Famous Physicists - List of Famous Physicists - page 9
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 |
Russell Alan Hulse
Russell Alan Hulse is an American physicist who was one of the joint winners of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1993
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
Pierre Gilles de Gennes was a French scientist, well-known for his study of the order phenomena in liquid crystals and polymers
Martin Ryle
Sir Martin Ryle was a British astronomer who was one of the joint winners of Nobel Prize for Physics in 1974
K. Alex Müller
Karl Alexander Müller is a Swiss solid-state physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1987 for his work on superconductivity.
Heinrich Rohrer
Heinrich Rohrer was a Swiss physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986
Ernst Ruska
Ernst Ruska was a German physicist who invented the electron microscope
Brian Josephson
Brian Josephson is a Welsh theoretical physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1973 for his prediction of the Josephson Effect
Simon van der Meer
Simon van der Meer was a Dutch physicist who made revolutionary contributions to the field of particle physics