Early Life
Born in Copenhagen in 1885, Bohr grew up in an intellectual household: his father was a physiology professor and his mother came from a wealthy banking family. He and his brother Harald, later a famous mathematician, were both keen footballers. At the University of Copenhagen he won a gold medal for work on the surface tension of water. After his doctorate in 1911 he went to England, working with J.J. Thomson in Cambridge and then Ernest Rutherford in Manchester.
Major Discoveries
- 01Bohr model of the atom (1913) with electrons in fixed energy levels
- 02Explained the spectral lines of hydrogen through electron jumps
- 03Principle of complementarity: wave and particle descriptions both needed
- 04Correspondence principle linking quantum and classical physics
- 05Liquid-drop model of the nucleus and theory of nuclear fission (with Wheeler)
- 06Predicted properties of element 72, hafnium
Famous Experiments
- 01Used Balmer's hydrogen spectrum data to validate quantised orbits
- 02Led theoretical analysis of uranium-235 fission in 1939
- 03Directed the Copenhagen institute where many quantum experiments were interpreted
Awards & Honors
- 01Nobel Prize in Physics (1922)
- 02Copley Medal (1938)
- 03Franklin Medal (1926)
- 04Atoms for Peace Award (1957)
- 05Order of the Elephant, Denmark (1947)
Legacy
Bohr's institute in Copenhagen became the world centre of quantum physics, and the 'Copenhagen interpretation' shaped modern physics. He campaigned for open international control of nuclear weapons. Element 107, bohrium, is named after him.
Fun Facts
- 01He dissolved his friends' Nobel gold medals in aqua regia to hide them from the Nazis, later recovering the gold
- 02He escaped occupied Denmark in 1943 in a fishing boat and was flown to Britain in a bomber's bomb bay
- 03His son Aage Bohr also won a Nobel Prize in Physics
- 04He was a goalkeeper for a Danish football club