Famous Physicists - List of Famous Physicists - page 19

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

NameBirthdayNationalityBio
Henry CavendishOctober 10, 1731BritishHenry Cavendish was a theoretical chemist and physicist, renowned for discovery of hydrogen and calculation of the mass of earth
Walter KohnMarch 9, 1923AustrianNobel Laureate Walter Kohn was an Austrian-born American theoretical chemist and physicist
Isaac NewtonJanuary 4, 1643BritishIsaac Newton was an English scientist and mathematician, who discovered gravitation and Newtonian Mechanics
Ernst RuskaDecember 25, 1906GermanErnst Ruska was a German physicist who invented the electron microscope
Amedeo AvogadroAugust 9, 1776ItalianAmedeo Avogadro was an Italian scientist who formulated what is now known as Avogadro's law
Paul DiracAugust 8, 1902BritishPaul Dirac was an English theoretical physicist known for his contributions to quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics
Nikola TeslaJuly 10, 1856AmericanNikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, best known for his development of alternating current electrical systems
Franklin Chang DíazApril 5, 1950Chinese, Costa Rican, AmericanFranklin Chang-Diaz is an American-Costa Rican physicist and former NASA astronaut
Richard FeynmanMay 11, 1918AmericanRichard Feynman was a Nobel Prize winning American physicist who proposed the theory of quantum electrodynamics
J. J. ThomsonDecember 18, 1856BritishJ.J
Werner Heisenberg

Werner Heisenberg

Werner Heisenberg was a Nobel Prize winning German scientist who propounded the Uncertainty Principle

GermanDecember 5, 1901173 views

Wilhelm Wien

Wilhelm Wien was a German physicist who won Nobel Prize in Physics for his groundbreaking work in thermal radiation

GermanJanuary 13, 1864196 views

Walther Bothe

Walther Bothe was a German nuclear physicist who won the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physics

GermanJanuary 8, 1891155 views

Steven Weinberg

Steven Weinberg is a Nobel Prize winning physicist best known for his work on the weak force and electromagnetic interactions

AmericanMay 3, 1933154 views

Robert Boyle

Robert Boyle was one of the founders of modern chemistry

IrishJanuary 25, 1627183 views

Robert Hooke

Robert Hooke FRS was a 17th century English scientist, architect and polymath

BritishJuly 28, 1635180 views

Pieter Zeeman

Pieter Zeeman was a Dutch physicist who won Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the Zeeman Effect

DutchMay 25, 1865152 views

Pierre Curie

Pierre Curie was a French physicist and Nobel laureate

FrenchMay 15, 1859211 views

Jean Le Rond d’Alembert

Jean Le Rond d’Alembert was a famous French mathematician, philosopher, and music theorist, and also the co-editor of the Encyclopédie

FrenchNovember 16, 1717119 views

Max Planck

Max Plank was a German physicist who gave the quantum theory of physics

GermanApril 23, 1858127 views