Notable Physicists

Greek- Developed theory that the world consisted of indivisible atoms.

Greek- Wrote Physics; used deduction and logic to create theories concerning change in many areas of physics.

Greek- Developed a screw to raise water and a principle concerning buoyancy.

Italian- Demonstrated from the Leaning Tower that all bodies fall uniformly; discovered law of the pendulum; discovered Newton's laws; Discourses Concerning Two New Sciences

English- Published "On Magnetism" in 1600 - first major study of magnetism.

Italian- Developed the barometer and improved the thermometer and telescope

Dutch- Discovered the wave theory of light and the pendulum clock

English- conceived of the theory of universal gravitation; Principia; 3 laws of motion; optics

German-Dutch- Invented the mercury thermometer; devised a temperature scale with 32 and 212 degrees as important points

French- developed a scale with 0 and 80 degrees as important points

Swiss- Developed theory of pressure of gases on container's walls; Hydrodynamica; law/principle with fluid pressure

Swedish- Developed a temperature scale with 0 and 100 degrees as important points

English- discovered specific gravity of hydrogen (inflammable air) and CO2 (fixed air); discovered hydrogen; showed the composition of the atmosphere

French- Formulated a law which states that the force of attraction between two charges is proportional to the product of their charges and the square of the distance; unit of charge

French- Discovered a law that gases expand by the same amount with a given rise in temperature independently of Gay-Lussac

English/American- Stated that heat was not a substance of a body but related to the motion of its particles

Italian- invented the voltaic pile, the electric battery, and a unit of electric potential

English- formulated the law of partial pressures of gases and an atomic theory

Danish- Discovered that magnetic fields surround current-carrying wires; founded science of electromagnetism, establishing a connection between the two; a unit of magnetic field intensity

French- Discovered principles of electromagnetism with use of electric currents; formulated a namesake law; unit of electric current

German- Discovered a law whereby electric current is proportional to the applied electromotive force (emf)

English- Discovered electromagnetic induction; formulated laws of electrolysis; unit of capacitance

American- Invented the electric relay, which allowed Morse to "invent" the telegraph; discovered principles of induction, and the namesake unit

Austrian- Discovered an effect whereby the frequency of a wave is caused by changes in the distance between the source and observer

German- Helped create science of thermodynamics

French- Demonstrated the rotation of the earth with a pendulum and built the first gyroscope; proved velocity of light in air > than in water; namesake eddy current

German- Discovered the fundamental concept of electromagnetism; and used a spectroscope to discover caesium

English- Formulated a law on the relationship between heat and mechanical energy; unit of work

Scottish- Developed the mathematical theory of the electromagnetic theory of light; treatise Electricity and Magnetism is the foundational work of electromagnetism

American- Determined the value of the ohm, the unit of electrical resistance

German- Discovered namesake radio waves; unit of frequency = 1 cycle/second

Austrian- Established the study of philosophy of science; known for a number relating velocity to speed of sound

German- Discovered X-rays, for which he won the 1901 (first) Nobel Physics

Dutch- Developed electron theory and shared the 1902 Nobel Physics with Zeeman for the Zeeman effect (magnetism and light)

French- Co-discovered natural radioactivity with the Curies, for which he won the 1903 Physics Nobel

French- Pioneered work in radioactivity; won 1903 Physics Nobel; discovered radium and polonium; known for a point where ferromagnets lose magnetism

English- Discovered the electron in 1897 and won the 1906 Physics Nobel for study of conduction of electricity by gases

German and American- One won the 1907 Physics Nobel for precision spectroscopic instruments; measured diameter of star; collaborated on various aspects of wave light theory

Italian- Known as the "founder of wireless telegraphy"; shared 1909 Physics Nobel with Braun for its development

German- Developed a radiation detector with Rutherford

British- "Father of nuclear physics"; formulated explanation of radioactivity; description of the nuclear structure of the atom

German- developed the quantum theory of energy; won 1918 Physics Nobel; namesake constant h

German-American- Developed theory of relativity; awarded 1921 Physics Nobel for work on the photoelectric effect; developed unified field theory

British- Shared 1915 Physics Nobel for work with X-rays to discover crystal structures; developed X-ray spectrometer

Austrian- Co-discovered protactinium with Otto Hahn; developed the theory of nuclear fission, which led to the atomic bomb

Danish- Won 1922 Physics Nobel for investigation of atomic structure and radiation; founder of modern quantum theory of of matter and atomic and molecular structure

American- Launched the first successful liquid-fueled rocket; namesake spaceflight center in MD; father of modern rocketry

American- Proved quantum theory by discovering that X-rays act as particles in a namesake effect; shared 1927 Physics Nobel with Wilson

French- Founded wave mechanics; reveived 1929 Physics Nobel for the discovery of the wave properties of electrons

German- received 1932 Physics Nobel for development of quantum mechanics; famed "uncertainty principle", which prevents one from knowing both momentum and position simultaneously

Austrian- Provided basis for quantum theory with an equation that was the mathematical formulation of wave mechanics; shared 1933 Physics Nobel with Dirac

French- Won the Chem Nobel in 1935 for the discovery of artificial radioactivity

British- Discovered the neutron and won the 1935 Physics Nobel

American- Discovered positron (anti-electron); shared Nobel with Hess; discovered mesons in cosmic rays

Italian-American- Split the atom in fission; received 1938 Physics Nobel for discovery of nuclear reactions by slow neutrons; produced the first chain reaction and worked on atom bomb

American- Invented the cyclotron, and won 1939 Physics Nobel

American- Directed construction of the atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project - "Father of Atomic Bomb"

American- Developed the hydrogen fusion bomb; also worked on the Manhattan Project; "father of hydrogen bomb"

Austrian-American- Supervised the development of radar; won 1944 Physics Nobel for developing the molecular-beam-resonance method for recording nucleic magnetism

American- Discovered uranium-235, the fissionable uranium isotope in fission bombs

British- Won 1947 Physics Nobel for discovery that the namesake layer, or F-layer, bounces radio waves, enabling long-distance radio communication

British and Irish- Shared 1951 Physics Nobel for work on transmutation of nuclei by accelerating protons in colliders

Russian- "Father of the Hydrogen Bomb"; won 1975 Nobel Peace

German- Pioneered research in quantum mechanics, for which he shared the 1954 Physics Nobel with Bothe

Americans- Shared the 1956 Physics Nobel for research on semiconductors and the development of the transistor

Chinese-Americans- Received 1957 Physics Nobel for investigations into the laws of partiy, with significant consequences for elementary particle physics

American- Discovered the radiation belts that surround earth by means of a counter on the Explorer IV satellite

Americans- Discovered the antiproton and won the 1959 Physics Nobel

German- Discovered nuclear shell theory and shared the 1963 Physics Nobel with Maria Goppert-Mayer

American- Invented the maser and shared the 1964 Physics Nobel with Basov and Prochorov for the laser-maser principle

American- Shared the 1965 Physics Nobel with Schwinger and Tomonaga for research in quantum electrodynamics

American- Proposed the 8-fold way of classifying elementary particles and interactions, for which he won 1969 Physics Nobel

Americans- Received Nobel Physics Prize in 1976 for discovering the J/Psi meson, which they claimed was the smallest building block of matter (it wasn't at all)

American- Developed the integrated circuit on silicon chips