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Birth
Werner Heisenberg was born on December 5th, 1901 in Würzburg, Germany(Werner Heisenberg). -
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Early Career and Education
In 1923, Werner Heisenberg earned his PhD from the University of Munich. In 1924, he studied with Neils Bohr at the University of Munich. At 26 years old, Heisenberg was appointed Professor of Theoretical Physics at Leipzig University(Werner Heisenberg). -
Certain About Uncertainty
Heisenberg published his Uncertainty Principle suggesting a quantum particle's position and momentum cannot be measured simultaneously. The theory was groundbreaking to theoretical physicists at the time because it suggested a duality nature of particles-that they have a wave and particle nature, similar to light. The Uncertainty Principle was met with hesitation by fellow physicists Einstein and Schrödinger due to the lack of precision and "incompleteness(The Nobel Prize in Physics 1932)." -
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Nobel Prize
In 1933, Heisenberg won the 1932 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the creation of quantum mechanics, the application of which has, inter alia, led to the discovery of the allotropic forms of hydrogen." This achievement solidified Heisenberg’s position at the forefront of quantum mechanics(The Nobel Prize in Physics 1932). -
Failure to Launch
As World War II was reaching its climax, German physicists and allied physicists raced to bring an atomic bomb into fruition. Heisenberg greatly over-calculated the amount of uranium required for a nuclear blast and was not successful in his attempts. Speculation placed morality in the hands of German scientists to thwart this technology, potentially saving lives. In a postwar interview Heisenberg could not explain how to correctly make a bomb. The Real Heisenberg (Science of the Nuclear Bomb) -
Death
Werner Heisenberg spent his later years lecturing about physics internationally and ultimately succumbed to kidney cancer in Munich on February 1, 1976(Werner Heisenberg).
