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460 BCE
Democritus
Born 460 BCE- Died 370 BCE, Greek philosopher who developed philosophical atomism and the atomic theory of the universe. Democritus lived in Andrea, Thrace, but he traveled quite frequently. He stated void (space) had “an equal right with reality”, he also stated it was infinite, with an infinite number of things called atoms. He stated atoms were invisible and are without pores that fill all space. -
John Dalton
Born September 6th 1766, Died July 27th, 1884 and lived primarily in Manchester . He Developed the Atomic Theory. Dalton was a Quaker who taught kids in Kendal. He connected to other scholars and learned meteorology. He had an opinion that stated the atmosphere was 80 percent carbon and 20 percent oxygen. He defined partial pressure, and is thought to be the “father of meteorology”. He also discovered color blindness. His work on atomic theory is incomplete and nobody has found how he did it. -
J.J. Thompson
Born December 18th, 1856, Died August 30th 1940, living primarily in Cambridge . He influenced the likes of Rutherford, Bohr, and Lewis Fry Richardson. Thompson developed knowledge of atomic structure by finding the electron in 1897, even receiving the Nobel Prize for Physics. Even being knighted for it knighted. He developed the theory of electromagnetism. He studied at Trinity College at Cambridge, and once he graduated he went to Cavendish Laboratory where he discovered electromagnetism. -
Max Planck
Born April 23rd 1858, Died October 4th 1947, he lived in Germany. He developed the quantum theory, and that won him a Physics Nobel Prize in 1918. He went to school at the University of Munich and spent a year at the University of Berlin where he thought he learned nothing. Planck became a lecturer at Munich at 21 and in 1885 he became an associate professor at the University of Keil. Until he became a full professor at Berlin where he lived for the rest of his life. -
Ernest Rutherford
Born August 30th, 1871, Died October 19, 1937, mainly residing in Cambridge after he graduated from college. Rutherford found most of an atom is empty with most mass being in the nucleus. He also was one of the first to discover radioactivity. He won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908. President of the Royal Society for 5 years. He was awarded scholarship after scholarship and ended up in Cambridge with J.J. Thompson. -
Niels Bohr
Born October 7th 1885, Died November 18th 1962. He resided In Copenhagen, Denmark. Bohr proposed the atomic model where an electron can only occupy specific orbits surrounding the nucleus. Bohr was the first to use quantum theory to make a model of an atom. Thompson and Rutherford studied with Bohr at Cambridge and Manchester. He created the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen. Bohr even helped create the atomic bomb for the United States. Finally in 1922 he received a Nobel prize. -
James Chadwick
Born October 20th, 1891, Died July 24th 1974, presiding mainly in the United Kingdom. Chadwick discovered the neutron, and even won a Nobel Prize in Physics for it. He worked under Rutherford at the University of Manchester. During WW1 he was imprisoned at Ruhleben, after he was let free he went to Cambridge to study with Rutherford. There they found the proton and the nucleus of the hydrogen atom. In 1940 he was in the MAUD Committee, overseeing the atomic bomb creation. -
Louis De Broglie
Born August 15th, 1892, Died, March 19th 1987, and he lived in France for most of his life. Louis is famous for researching quantum theory, more specifically the prediction of wave nature in electrons. Louis is of noble descent and he broke the chain of soldiers and political leaders, becoming a scientist. Planck and Einstein influenced Broglie in his decision to become a physicist; he particularly enjoyed theoretical physics and even studied at Sorbonne to learn his craft.