"The opposite of a fact is falsehood, but the opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth." -Niels Bohr
Early Life
Niels Henrik David Bohr was born on October 7, 1885 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The eldest of two children Bohr was the son of Christian Bohr and Ellen Alder. Bohr was exposed to and learned to love science at a very young age because his father was a physiologist. After receiving a doctorate degree in physics from Copenhagen University in 1911 he started working under Sir J.J. Thomson who had discovered the presence of the electron and in 1906 had received the "Nobel Prize in Physics in recognition of the great merits of his theoretical and experimental investigations on the conduction of electricity by gases".
Early Work
In the spring of 1912 he began to work at the lab of Professor Rutherford, another prominent scientist of the time. Rutherford after receiving his Nobel Prize in Chemistry a few years earlier had recently proposed that electrons orbit around the nucleus of an atom at different distances away instead of remaining stationary and scattered around the nucleus, as was the common belief at the time. However he was running into problems with this theory as with this theory as when the laws of physics were applied to this theory the electrons would eventually run out of energy and crash into the nucleus.
Bohr became intrigued by this and spent much of his time working on the further development of this theory. In 1913 Bohr published his model of atomic structure which stated that electrons traveled in orbitals around the nucleus of an atom, that the electrons in the outer orbitals determined the chemical properties of the atom, and that radiation from the atoms happened when electrons lost energy and moved down an orbital. This work earned him "The Nobel Prize in Physics for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them".
Family
In 1912 Bohr married Margrethe Nørlund and they had six sons, two of which lived to adulthood, the other four are Henrik, Erik, Aage, and Ernest. Henrik is a M.D., Erik is a Chemical Engineer, Ernest is a Lawyer, and Aage became a theoretical physicist and in 1975 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics along with Ben Mottelson and Leo Rainwater "for the discovery of the connection between collective motion and particle motion in atomic nuclei and the development of the theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus based on this connection".
Further Work
During World War 2 Bohr fled Denmark to Switzerland and then in the final two years of the war to the United States. He began to work on the Manhatten Project soon after his arrival to the U.S. however after the creation of the atomic bomb he became a huge proponent of the constructive and peaceful uses of atomic energy and in 1957 he was awarded the first Atoms for Peace Arward.
Bohr was also acquainted with Einstein and although the two were both brilliant physicists Einstein's belief about physics was that it would rationalize what was happening in the world, Bohr was simply interested in the equations and did not worry about how they related to reality. Bohr served, until his death on November 18, 1965, as head of the Institute of Theoretical Physics at Copenhagen University which was established for him. Bohr also published many writings and has well over 100 published works including three books.
Sources http://www.usd.edu/phys/courses/phys300/gallery/clark/bohr.html http://nobelprize.org http://physics.eou.edu/students/crutcher/Bohr.html
Early Life
Niels Henrik David Bohr was born on October 7, 1885 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The eldest of two children Bohr was the son of Christian Bohr and Ellen Alder. Bohr was exposed to and learned to love science at a very young age because his father was a physiologist. After receiving a doctorate degree in physics from Copenhagen University in 1911 he started working under Sir J.J. Thomson who had discovered the presence of the electron and in 1906 had received the "Nobel Prize in Physics in recognition of the great merits of his theoretical and experimental investigations on the conduction of electricity by gases".
Early Work
In the spring of 1912 he began to work at the lab of Professor Rutherford, another prominent scientist of the time. Rutherford after receiving his Nobel Prize in Chemistry a few years earlier had recently proposed that electrons orbit around the nucleus of an atom at different distances away instead of remaining stationary and scattered around the nucleus, as was the common belief at the time. However he was running into problems with this theory as with this theory as when the laws of physics were applied to this theory the electrons would eventually run out of energy and crash into the nucleus.
Bohr became intrigued by this and spent much of his time working on the further development of this theory. In 1913 Bohr published his model of atomic structure which stated that electrons traveled in orbitals around the nucleus of an atom, that the electrons in the outer orbitals determined the chemical properties of the atom, and that radiation from the atoms happened when electrons lost energy and moved down an orbital. This work earned him "The Nobel Prize in Physics for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them".
Family
In 1912 Bohr married Margrethe Nørlund and they had six sons, two of which lived to adulthood, the other four are Henrik, Erik, Aage, and Ernest. Henrik is a M.D., Erik is a Chemical Engineer, Ernest is a Lawyer, and Aage became a theoretical physicist and in 1975 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics along with Ben Mottelson and Leo Rainwater "for the discovery of the connection between collective motion and particle motion in atomic nuclei and the development of the theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus based on this connection".
Further Work
During World War 2 Bohr fled Denmark to Switzerland and then in the final two years of the war to the United States. He began to work on the Manhatten Project soon after his arrival to the U.S. however after the creation of the atomic bomb he became a huge proponent of the constructive and peaceful uses of atomic energy and in 1957 he was awarded the first Atoms for Peace Arward.
Bohr was also acquainted with Einstein and although the two were both brilliant physicists Einstein's belief about physics was that it would rationalize what was happening in the world, Bohr was simply interested in the equations and did not worry about how they related to reality. Bohr served, until his death on November 18, 1965, as head of the Institute of Theoretical Physics at Copenhagen University which was established for him. Bohr also published many writings and has well over 100 published works including three books.
Sources
http://www.usd.edu/phys/courses/phys300/gallery/clark/bohr.html
http://nobelprize.org
http://physics.eou.edu/students/crutcher/Bohr.html
Photo Sources
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Niels_Bohr.jpg