The Nobel Prize was awarded for the first time in 1901. Since the beginning of the century, the commission annually selects the best specialist who made an important discovery or created an invention in order to honor him with an honorary award. The list of Nobel Prize winners slightly exceeds the number of years of the ceremony, since sometimes two or three people were celebrated simultaneously. However, some are worth mentioning separately.
Igor Tamm
A Russian physicist, a Nobel laureate, was born in the city of Vladivostok in the family of a civil engineer. In 1901, the family moved to Ukraine, it was there that Igor Evgenievich Tamm graduated from high school, after which he went to study in Edinburgh. In 1918, he received a diploma in physics from Moscow State University.
After that, he began to teach, first in Simferopol, then in Odessa, and then in Moscow. In 1934, he received the post of head of the sector of theoretical physics at the Lebedev Institute, where he worked until the end of his life. Igor Evgenievich Tamm studied the electrodynamics of solids, as well as the optical properties of crystals. In his works, he first expressed the idea of quanta of sound waves. Relativistic mechanics in those days was extremely relevant, and Tamm was able to experimentally confirm ideas that have not been proven before. His discoveries turned out to be very significant. In 1958, the work was recognized at the world level: together with colleagues Cherenkov and Frank, he received the Nobel Prize.
Otto Stern
It is worth noting another theorist who has shown outstanding ability to experiment. German-American physicist, Nobel laureate Otto Stern was born in February 1888 in Sorau (now it is the Polish city of Zori). Stern graduated from Breslau, and then spent several years studying natural sciences at German universities. In 1912, he defended his doctoral dissertation; Einstein became the head of his post-graduate work.
During the First World War, Otto Stern was mobilized into the army, but there he continued theoretical research in the field of quantum theory. From 1914 to 1921 he worked at Frankfurt University, where he was engaged in experimental confirmation of molecular motion. It was then that he managed to develop the atomic beam method, the so-called Stern experiment. In 1923, he was appointed professor at the University of Hamburg. In 1933, he opposed anti-Semitism and was forced to move from Germany to the United States, where he received citizenship. In 1943 he replenished the list of Nobel Prize winners for his significant contribution to the development of the molecular beam method and the discovery of the magnetic moment of the proton. Since 1945 - a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Since 1946 he lived in Berkeley, where he ended his days in 1969.
O. Chamberlain
American physicist Owen Chamberlain was born July 10, 1920 in San Francisco. Together with Emilio Segre, he worked in the field of quantum physics. Colleagues managed to achieve significant success and make a discovery: they discovered antiprotons. In 1959, they were spotted internationally and awarded as Nobel Prize winners in physics. Since 1960, Chamberlain was admitted to the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. He worked at Harvard as a professor, and ended his days at Berkeley in February 2006.
Niels bohr
Few Nobel Prize winners in physics are as famous as this Danish scientist. In a sense, he can be called the creator of modern science. In addition, Niels Bohr founded the Institute of Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen. He owns the theory of the atom, based on a planetary model, as well as postulates. He created the most important works on the theory of the atomic nucleus and nuclear reactions, on the philosophy of natural science. Despite the interest in the structure of particles, he opposed their use for military purposes. The future physicist received his education in a grammar school, where he became famous as an avid football player. Got a reputation as a gifted researcher at the age of twenty-three, having graduated from the University of Copenhagen. His graduation project was awarded a gold medal. Niels Bohr proposed determining the surface tension of water by the vibration of the stream. From 1908 to 1911 he worked at his native university. Then he moved to England, where he worked with Joseph John Thomson, and then with Ernest Rutherford. Here he conducted his most important experiments, which led him to receive the award in 1922. After that he returned to Copenhagen, where he lived until his death in 1962.
Leo Landau
Soviet physicist, Nobel laureate, was born in 1908. Landau created stunning works in many fields: he studied magnetism, superconductivity, atomic nuclei, elementary particles, electrodynamics and much more. Together with Eugene Lifshits, he created a classical course in theoretical physics. His biography is interesting for its unusually rapid development: at the age of thirteen, Landau entered the university. For some time he studied chemistry, but subsequently decided to study physics. Since 1927 he was a graduate student at the Ioffe Leningrad Institute. Contemporaries remembered him as an enthusiastic, harsh person, prone to critical evaluations. Strict self-discipline allowed Landau to succeed. He worked on formulas so much that he even saw them in a dream at night. Strongly influenced him and scientific trips abroad. Particularly important was a visit to the Niels Bohr Institute of Theoretical Physics, when the scientist was able to discuss the problems of interest to him at the highest level. Landau considered himself a student of the famous Dane.
In the late thirties, the scientist had to face Stalinist repressions. Physicist had a chance to escape from Kharkov, where he lived with his family. This did not help, and in 1938 he was arrested. Leading scientists of the world turned to Stalin, and in 1939 Landau was released. After that, for many years he was engaged in scientific work. In 1962, he was enrolled in the Nobel Prize in Physics. The committee chose him for an innovative approach to the study of condensed matter, especially liquid helium. In the same year, was injured in a tragic accident, colliding with a truck. After that, he lived for six years. Russian physicists, Nobel laureates rarely achieved the recognition that Lev Landau had. Despite a difficult fate, he realized all his dreams and formulated a completely new approach to science.
Max Bourne
The German physicist, Nobel laureate, theorist and creator of quantum mechanics was born in 1882. The future author of the most important works on the theory of relativity, electrodynamics, philosophical issues, fluid kinetics and many others worked in Britain and at home. He received his first training in a gymnasium with a language bias. After school, he entered the University of Breslav. In the process of studying, he attended lectures by the most famous mathematicians of that time - Felix Klein, David Hilbert and German Minkowski. In 1912 he got the position of privat-docent in Göttingen, and in 1914 went to Berlin. Since 1919 he worked in Frankfurt as a professor. Among his colleagues was Otto Stern, the future Nobel Prize laureate, whom we have already talked about. In his work, Bourne described solids and quantum theory. He came to the need for a special interpretation of the particle-wave nature of matter. He proved that the laws of the physics of the microworld can be called statistical and that the wave function must be interpreted as a complex quantity. After the Nazis came to power, he moved to Cambridge. He returned to Germany only in 1953, and received the Nobel Prize in 1954. Forever remained in the history of physics as one of the most influential theorists of the twentieth century.
Enrico Fermi
Not many Nobel laureates in physics were from Italy. However, it was there that Enrico Fermi, the most important specialist of the twentieth century, was born. He became the creator of nuclear and neutron physics, founded several scientific schools and was a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union. In addition, Fermi owns a large number of theoretical works in the field of elementary particles. In 1938, he moved to the United States, where he discovered artificial radioactivity and built the first nuclear reactor in human history. In the same year received the Nobel Prize. It is interesting that Fermi was distinguished by a phenomenal memory, thanks to which he not only turned out to be an incredibly capable physicist, but also quickly studied foreign languages through independent studies, which he approached in a disciplined manner, according to his own system. Such abilities distinguished him at the university.
Immediately after training, he began to give lectures on quantum theory, which at that time was practically not studied in Italy. His first studies in the field of electrodynamics also deserved general attention. On the way to Fermi's success, it is worth noting Professor Mario Corbino, who appreciated the talents of the scientist and became his patron at the University of Rome, providing the young man with an excellent career. After moving to America, he worked in Las Alamos and in Chicago, where he died in 1954.
Erwin Schrödinger
The Austrian theoretical physicist was born in Vienna in 1887 in the family of a manufacturer. A wealthy father was vice president of the local botanical and zoological society and from an early age instilled in his son an interest in science. Until the age of eleven, Erwin studied at home, and in 1898 he entered the academic gymnasium. Having graduated brilliantly, he entered the University of Vienna. Despite the fact that a physical specialty was chosen, Schrödinger also showed humanitarian talents: he knew six foreign languages, wrote poetry and was versed in literature. Achievements in the exact sciences were inspired by Fritz Gazenrol, a talented teacher of Erwin. It was he who helped the student understand that physics is his main interest. For the doctoral dissertation, Schrödinger chose the experimental work, which he managed to brilliantly defend. Work began at the university, during which the scientist was engaged in atmospheric electricity, optics, acoustics, color theory and quantum physics. Already in 1914 he was approved as an assistant professor, which allowed him to give lectures. After the war, in 1918, he began working at the Jena Physical Institute, where he worked with Max Planck and Einstein. In 1921, he began teaching at Stuttgart, but after one semester he moved to Breslau. After some time I received an invitation from the Polytechnic in Zurich. In the period from 1925 to 1926 he performed several revolutionary experiments, publishing a work entitled “Quantization as an eigenvalue problem”. Created the most important equation, relevant for modern science. In 1933 he received the Nobel Prize, after which he was forced to leave the country: the Nazis came to power. After the war he returned to Austria, where he lived all the remaining years and died in 1961 in his native Vienna.
Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen
The famous German experimental physicist was born in Lennep, near Dusseldorf, in 1845. Having been educated at the Zurich Polytechnic, he planned to become an engineer, but realized that he was interested in theoretical physics. He became an assistant at the department of his native university, then he moved to Giessen. From 1871 to 1873 he worked in Würzburg. In 1895, discovered X-rays and carefully studied their properties. He was the author of the most important works on the pyro- and piezoelectric properties of crystals and on magnetism. He became the first winner of the Nobel Prize in physics in the world, having received it in 1901 for his outstanding contribution to science. In addition, it was Roentgen who worked at the Kundt school, becoming a kind of founder of a whole scientific trend, collaborating with contemporaries - Helmholtz, Kirchhoff, Lorenz. Despite the fame of a successful experimenter, he led a fairly closed lifestyle and communicated exclusively with assistants. Therefore, the influence of his ideas on those physicists who were not his students was not very significant. The humble scientist refused the name of the rays in his honor, all his life calling them X-rays. He gave his income to the state and lived in very cramped circumstances. Wilhelm Roentgen died on February 10, 1923 in Munich.
Albert Einstein
The world famous physicist was born in Germany. He became the creator of the theory of relativity and wrote the most important works on quantum theory, was a foreign corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Since 1893 he lived in Switzerland, and in 1933 he moved to the United States. It was Einstein who introduced the concept of photon, established the laws of the photoelectric effect, and predicted the discovery of induced radiation. He developed the theory of Brownian motion and fluctuations, and also created quantum statistics. He worked on the problems of cosmology. In 1921 he received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of the laws of the photoelectric effect. In addition, Albert Einstein is one of the main initiators of the founding of the state of Israel. In the thirties, he opposed fascist Germany and tried to keep politicians from insane actions. His opinion about the atomic problem was not heard, which became the main tragedy of the scientist's life. In 1955, he died in Princeton of aortic aneurysm.