Famous Physicists - List of Famous Physicists - page 14
Physicists are the scientists who study the field of physics in great detail. They conduct research into physical phenomena or the natural science that involve the study of matter and related concepts. They analyze the general happenings in nature and try to understand how the universe behaves. On the basis of research through observation and experiments, they discover physical laws and propound theories that explain the functioning of natural forces like gravity, electromagnetism, and nuclear interactions. The discovery of new physical laws and theories contribute to the existing base of theoretical knowledge and can also be used for more practical applications such as development of medial equipment, electronic devices, nuclear reactors, etc. During the earlier days, physics was considered a field of philosophy; it was only during the 19th century that physics was realized as a discipline separate from philosophy. Some of the major branches of physics are classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, theory of relativity and electromagnetism. Since physics covers a vast number of fields, most physicists specialize in one of the many subfields. However, the various subfields may overlap with each other and also with other sciences resulting in interdisciplinary fields such as biophysics, geophysics, meteorology, etc. Browse through this section to explore the biographies, life and works of various famous physicists from all over the world.
The Most Famous Physicists | |||
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Name | Birthday | Nationality | Bio |
Henry Cavendish | October 10, 1731 | British | Henry Cavendish was a theoretical chemist and physicist, renowned for discovery of hydrogen and calculation of the mass of earth |
Walter Kohn | March 9, 1923 | Austrian | Nobel Laureate Walter Kohn was an Austrian-born American theoretical chemist and physicist |
Isaac Newton | January 4, 1643 | British | Isaac Newton was an English scientist and mathematician, who discovered gravitation and Newtonian Mechanics |
Ernst Ruska | December 25, 1906 | German | Ernst Ruska was a German physicist who invented the electron microscope |
Amedeo Avogadro | August 9, 1776 | Italian | Amedeo Avogadro was an Italian scientist who formulated what is now known as Avogadro's law |
Paul Dirac | August 8, 1902 | British | Paul Dirac was an English theoretical physicist known for his contributions to quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics |
Nikola Tesla | July 10, 1856 | American | Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, best known for his development of alternating current electrical systems |
Franklin Chang Díaz | April 5, 1950 | Chinese, Costa Rican, American | Franklin Chang-Diaz is an American-Costa Rican physicist and former NASA astronaut |
Richard Feynman | May 11, 1918 | American | Richard Feynman was a Nobel Prize winning American physicist who proposed the theory of quantum electrodynamics |
J. J. Thomson | December 18, 1856 | British | J.J |
Hans Christian Ørsted
Hans Christian Oersted was a famous physicist and chemist who pioneered the concept of electromagnetism
Luis Walter Alvarez
Luis Alvarez was a famous American physicist who proposed the theory that dinosaurs faced extinction owing to an asteroid impact
Ludwig Boltzmann
Ludwig Boltzmann was a famous Austrian physicist who is the eponym for the Boltzmann Constant in physics
Katharine Burr Blodgett
Katherine Burr Blodgett was a famous American scientist who invented the ‘invisible glass’ and was the first woman recipient of doctoral degree
Erwin Schrödinger
Erwin Schrodinger was a Nobel Prize winning physicist who formulated the Schrodinger equation in quantum physics
Evangelista Torricelli
Evangelista Torricelli was a renowned Italian physicist and mathematician who invented the barometer
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin
William Thomson was a renowned physicist from Britain who formulated the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics and invented the Kelvin scale of temperature
Steven Chu
Steven Chu is a Nobel Prize winning American scientist who discovered the technique of cooling atoms using laser
Lise Meitner
Lise Meitner was a renowned Austrian scientist who worked with Otto Hahn to discover the phenomenon of nuclear fission