Because it is men and women who make science, here are some of those who have marked the history of physics. The list is of course not exhaustive…
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When we talk about physicists famous, the first name that comes to mind is probably that of Albert Einstein (1879-1955).
Famous physicists: Einstein, Archimedes, Galileo, Newton
Indeed, Albert Einstein, with his theory of general relativity, has radically changed the way we understand space and time. In addition, he received the Nobel Prize in 1921 for his explanation of the effect photoelectric.
If we go back a little further in time, we can cite characters like:
- Archimedes (287-212 BC) and his famous “Eureka! » ; the thrust ofArchimedes has neither more nor less laid the foundations of hydrostatics;
- Galileo (1564-1642)”, extraordinary scientist, developer, among others, of the telescope and fierce defender of heliocentrism – “And yet, it turns! -;
- isaac Newton (1643-1727), discoverer of the universal gravitation and founder as such of classical mechanics.
Marie Curie, a woman in a man’s world
How not to mention the one who obtained, with her husband – and Henry Becquerel -, the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 for his work on radiation: Marie Curie (1867-1934). A great name in nuclear physics and chemistry, since she was awarded the Nobel Prize in this other discipline in 1911, making her the only scholar to date to have obtained two scientific Nobels in two different fields; which therefore also ranks it among the most famous chemists.
The modern era: Max Planck, Niels Bohr, Erwin Schrödinger…
Another essential physicist: Max Planck (1858-1947), Nobel Prize in 1918 for his work on the quantum theory making him the founder of the Quantum mechanics. With :
- Niels Bohr (1885-1962), Nobel Prize in 1922 and whose theory of the atomic model is the basis of quantum mechanics;
- Erwin Schrödinger (1887-1961), Nobel Prize in 1933 for establishing theequation fundamental of quantum mechanics which gate her name ; he is also known for the thought experiment which was later named the experiment of the Schrödinger’s cat.
More sadly famous, we can still cite Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967), the father of the atomic bomb.
Astrophysicists Stephen Hawking and Hubert Reeves
Among our contemporaries, one can think of stephen hawking (born 1942, died March 14, 2018), theoretical physicist and cosmologist with Charcot’s diseasebest-selling author A brief history of time and recognized for his work on black holesnotably.
Without forgetting the essential astrophysicist Hubert Reeves (born in 1932), known to all for his popularization work and for his ecological activism.
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