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Birth
Niels Henrik David Bohr was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, to Christian Bohr, Professor of Physiology at Copenhagen University, and Ellen, née Adler. His father was an eminent physiologist and was primarily responsible for Bohr's interest in physics. -
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Niels Bohr (1885-1962)
Niels Bohr is a Danish physicist who made groundbreaking contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory by developing his atomic model. He presumed that electrons orbited the nucleus of an atom at a set distance and that they could change orbits through a quantum leap while emitting electromagnetic radiation. In 1922 he received the Nobel Prize "for his services in investigating the structure of atoms and the radiation emanating from them." -
Education
In 1903 Bohr enrolled at the University of Copenhagen as a physics major. He earned his Master’s degree in 1909 and then his Doctor’s degree in 1911. -
Bohr's Atomic Model
Bohr published three articles in The Philosophical Magazine postulating his ideas that the electrons of an atom could only occupy specific orbits based on the amount of energy they had and that electrons could change orbits only if they lost or gained energy in what he called a quantum leap. Today this theory is known as the Bohr Atomic Model. The link below is an excellent video on Bohr's Model. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhAn8xZQ-d8&ab_channel=BozemanScience) -
The Institute for Theoretical Physics
Bohr was offered a professorship at the University of Copenhagen, dedicated to theoretical physics. In 1917 he began raising funds to establish an Institute of Theoretical Physics. The Institute for Theoretical Physics opened on March 3, 1921. -
Nobel Prize
In 1922 Bohr was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them." -
The Atomic Bomb
In 1943 Denmark's German occupiers sought to arrest Bohr. He fled by boat to Sweden and then traveled by plane to England. There he was made aware of the Allied atomic bomb project. Concerned about a similar project in Germany, Bohr joined the Allied project working weeks at a time in Los Alamos, New Mexico. He made significant contributions, and in the words of Robert Oppenheimer, he served "as a scientific father confessor to the younger men." Bohr returned to Denmark after the war. -
An "open world"
After World War Two, Bohr wanted to avoid a post-war nuclear arms race. He felt the best way to do this was to inform the Soviet Union of the Allied atomic bomb project. He secured meetings with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was unable to convince them of his viewpoint. Winston Churchill even accused him of spying for the Russians. He addressed an open letter to the United Nations Calling for international cooperation on nuclear energy. -
Death
Niels Bohr passed away at his home in Carlsberg in1962 at the age of 77. His ashes were interred at Copenhagen’s Assistens Cemetery near his parents' graves. -
The Niels Bohr Institute
On what would have been Bohr's 80th birthday, the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Copenhagen was officially renamed the Niels Bohr Institute.