Sunday, June 17, 2007

Great Danes: Niels Bohr

Neils Bohr was one of the most important physicists of the 20th century. Born in Copenhagen in 1885, Bohr received his undergraduate degree at Cambridge and his doctorate from Copenhagen University. Later, he studied under Ernest Rutherford at the University of Manchester.

He published his model of atomic structure in 1913 (the Bohr Model), and many of his theories became the basis on quantum thoery. In 1922, Niels Bohr was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics. During the German occupation of Denmark, Bohr fled to Sweden and ended up in Los Alamos working on the Manhatten Project, mainly as a consultant.

Neils Bohr is on the 500 Danish Kroner banknote, and the Institute of Physics at the University of Copenhagen is named after him. The element bohrium was named after him as well.

"If quantum mechanics hasn't profoundly shocked you, you haven't understood it yet."

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