To return to Nobel Laureates in the Sciences. See reference guide , , and for additional biographical sources for biographies of chemists, biochemists, and scientists. Nobel Prize HistoryAlfred Nobel BiographyTwo-Time Nobel LaureatesNobel Prize Winners in Chemistry Nobel Prize Winners in PhysicsNobel Prize Winners in Medicine and Physiology Nobel Prize Winners in EconomicsNobel Prize Winners in LiteratureNobel Prize Winners in Peace Nobel Prize Winners in Physics Year Winner(s) Life Dates Nationality Year Awarded For 1901 Wilhelm K. Roentgen (1845-1923) German Discovery of X rays 1902 Hendrik A. Lorentz (1853-1928) Dutch Pieter Zeeman (1865-1943) Dutch Influence of magnetism on radiation phenomena 1903 Antoine H. Becquerel (1852-1908) French Pierre Curie (1859-1906) French Marie Curie (1867-1934) French Discovery of radioactivity in uranium. Work on radioactivity based on Becquerel's discovery 1904 John Strutt (Lord Rayleigh) (1842-1919) British Studies on density of gases; discovery (with Sir William Ramsay) of argon 1905 Philipp Lenard (1862-1947) Hungarian Work on cathode rays 1906 Sir Joseph J. Thomson (1856-1940) British Conduction of electricity through gases 1907 Albert A. Michelson (1852-1931) American Optical precision instruments and studies made with them 1908 Gabriel Lippmann (1845-1921) French Color photography based on interference 1909 Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937) Italian Karl F. Braun (1850-1918) German 1910 Johannes D. van der Waals (1837-1923) Dutch Laws and formulas for liquids and gases 1911 Wilhelm Wien (1864-1928) German Discoveries in blackbody radiation 1912 Nils G. Dalen (1869-1937) Swedish Automatic gas lighting 1913 Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1853-1926) Dutch Method of liquefying helium 1914 Max von Laue (1879-1960) German Diffraction of X rays by crystals 1915 Sir William H. Bragg (1862-1942) English Sir William L. Bragg (1890-1971) English Work on crystal structure, using X-ray spectrometer they developed 1916 no award 1917 Charles G. Barkla (1877-1944) English Discovery of X-ray radiation of elements 1918 Max Planck (1858-1947) German Quantum theory 1919 Johannes Stark (1874-1957) German Discovery that spectral lines are distorted in an electrical field; Stark effect 1920 Charles E. Guillaume (1861-1938) French Work on nickel-steel alloys; invented alloy invar 1921 Albert Einstein (1879-1955) American Theory of relativity; photoelectric effect 1922 Niels Bohr (1885-1962) Danish Studies in atomic structure and radiations 1923 Robert A. Millikan (1868-1953) American Measurement of electron; photoelectric phenomena 1924 Karl M.G. Siegbahn (1886-1978) Swedish Work in X-ray spectroscopy 1925 James Franck (1882-1964) American Gustav Hertz (1887-1975) German Laws governing impact of electrons on atoms 1926 Jean B. Perrin (1870-1942) French Work on discontinuity of matter; studies on motion and distribution of particles suspended in liquid 1927 Arthur H. Compton (1892-1962) American Charles T.R. Wilson (1869-1959) Scottish Discovery of Compton effect; shows that electromagnetic radiation behaves like a stream of particles Wilson cloud chamber for study of ions 1928 Sir Owen W. Richardson (1879-1959) English Law on emission of electrons 1929 Prince Louis Victor de Broglie (1892-1987) French Wave character of electrons 1930 Sir Chandrasekhara V. Raman (1888-1970) Indian Work on diffusion of light; Raman effect advanced study of molecular structure 1932 Werner K. Heisenberg (1901-76) German Creation of quantum mechanics 1933 Erwin Schrodinger (1887-1961) Austrian Paul A.M. Dirac (1902-84) English New forms of atomic theory 1934 no award given. 1935 Sir James Chadwick (1891-1974) English Discovery of the neutron. 1936 Victor F. Hess (1883-1964) American Carl D. Anderson (1905-91) American Discovery of cosmic rays. Discovery of the positron. 1937 Clinton J. Davisson (1881-1958) American Sir George P. Thomson (1892-1975) English Diffraction of electrons by crystals. 1938 Enrico Fermi (1901-54) American Discovery of radioactive elements. 1939 Ernest O. Lawrence (1901-58) American Invention of cyclotron. 1943 Otto Stern (1888-1969) American For measuring the magnetic moment of a proton. 1944 Isidor I. Rabi (1898-1988) American Resonance method of recording magnetic properties of atomic nuclei. 1945 Wolfgang Pauli (1900-58) Austrian Exclusion principle of electrons. 1946 Percy W. Bridgman (1882-1961) American Discoveries in high-pressure physics. 1947 Sir Edward Appleton (1892-1965) English For studies of Earth's ionosphere and discovery of the Appleton layer. 1948 Patrick M.S. Blackett (1897-1974) English Cosmic-ray discoveries; improvement of Wilson cloud chamber 1949 Hideki Yukawa (1907-81) Japanese Prediction of existence of the meson. 1950 Cecil F. Powell (1903-69) English Meson discoveries; method of photographing nuclear processes. 1951 Sir John D. Cockcroft (1897-1967) English Ernest T.S. Walton (born 1903) Irish Pioneer work in transmutation of atomic nuclei. 1952 Felix Bloch (1905-83) American Edward M. Purcell (born 1912) American Methods of measuring magnetic fields of atomic nuclei. 1953 Frits Zernike (1888-1966) Dutch Phase-contrast microscope and method. 1954 Max Born (1882-1970) British Walther Bothe (1891-1957) German Contributions to quantum mechanics. Coincidence method of studying cosmic radiation. 1955 Willis E. Lamb, Jr. (born 1913) American Polykarp Kusch (born 1911) American Discoveries concerning structure of hydrogen spectrum. Determination of magnetic moment of the electron. 1956 William Shockley (1910-89) American John Bardeen (1908-91) American Walter H. Brattain (1902-87) American Development of the transistor effect. 1957 Chen Ning Yang (born 1922) Chinese Tsung-Dao Lee (born 1926) Chinese Investigation of parity laws. 1958 Pavel A. Cherenkov (1904-90) Soviet Ilya M. Frank (1908-90) Soviet Igor E. Tamm (1895-1971) Soviet Discovery and interpretation of Cherenkov radiation effect. 1959 Emilio Segre (1905-89) American Owen Chamberlain (born 1920) American Discovery of the antiproton. 1960 Donald A. Glaser (born 1926) American Development of bubble chamber for photographing atomic particles. 1961 Robert Hofstadter (1915-90) American Rudolf L. Mossbauer (born 1929) German Studies in structure of proton and neutron. Work on resonance absorption of gamma rays. 1962 Lev D. Landau (1908-68) Soviet Experiments with liquid helium. 1963 Eugene P. Wigner (born 1902) Hunagarian Maria G. Mayer (1906-72) American J. Hans D. Jensen (1907-73) German Research on structure of the atom and its nucleus. 1964 Charles H. Townes (born 1915) American Nikolai G. Basov (born 1922) Soviet Aleksandr M. Prokhorov (born 1916) Soviet Research on laser and maser beams. 1965 Richard P. Feynman (1918-88) American Julian S. Schwinger (born 1918) American Shin-Ichiro Tomonaga (1906-79) Japanese Work on defining basic theories of quantum electrodynamics. 1966 Alfred Kastler (1902-84) French Work on optical methods for studying Hertzian resonances in atoms. 1967 Hans A. Bethe (born 1906) American Studies in energy production of stars. 1968 Luis W. Alvarez (1911-88) American Study and detection of subatomic particles. 1969 Murray Gell-Mann (born 1929) American Discoveries regarding subatomic particles. 1970 Hannes Alfven (born 1908) Swedish Louis Neel (born 1904) French Studies of plasmas (gases) in magnetic fields. Work on antiferromagnetism and ferromagnetism. 1971 Dennis Gabor (1900-79) English (Born in Budapest, Hungary) Invention of holography. 1972 John Bardeen (1908-91) American Leon N. Cooper (born 1930) American John R. Schrieffer (born 1931) American Theory of superconductivity. 1973 Leo Esaki (born 1925) Japanese Ivar Giaever (born 1929) American Brian D. Josephson (born 1940) British Theories on tunneling phenomena in solids, particularly in semiconductors and superconductors. 1974 Sir Martin Ryle (1918-84) British Anthony Hewish (born 1924) British Pioneering research in radioastrophysics. 1975 James Rainwater (1917-86) American Aage N. Bohr (born 1922) Danish Ben Roy Mottelson (born 1926) Danish Research on the inner structure of the atom. 1976 Burton Richter (born 1931) American Samuel Chao Chung Ting (born 1936) American Discovery of the subatomic J particle, which opened a new field of research. 1977 Philip W. Anderson (born 1923) American Sir Nevill F. Mott (born 1905) British John H. Van Vleck (1899-1980) American Contributions to solid-state electronics. For their contribution to modern electronic solid-state circuitry, including the development of basic theories of magnetism and conduction. They were credited with discovering the use of economical materials, such as amorphous silicon in the development of computers. 1978 Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa (1894-1984) Soviet Arno Allan Penzias (born 1933) American Robert Woodrow Wilson (born 1936) American Research on liquefaction of helium. Discovery of electromagnetic radiation, supporting "big bang'' theory. 1979 Sheldon L. Glashow (born 1932) American Abdus Salam (born 1926) Pakistani Steven Weinberg (born 1933) American Contributions to theory of unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles. 1980 James W. Cronin (born 1931) American Val L. Fitch (born 1923) American Discovery of Cronin-Fitch Effect in the behavior of subatomic particles. 1981 Nicolaas Bloembergen (born 1920) American Arthur L. Schawlow (born 1921) American Kai M. Siegbahn (born 1918) Swedish Discoveries in electron spectroscopy. Pioneering work in the field of laser spectroscopy. 1982 Kenneth G. Wilson (born 1936) American Investigation of phase changes. 1983 Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (born 1910) American William A. Fowler (born 1911) American Pioneering work on the evolution of stars. 1984 Carlo Rubbia (born 1934) Italian Simon van der Meer (born 1925) Dutch Discovery of W and Z field particles as proof of weak-force theory. Design of colliding-beam accelerator that led to discovery of W and Z field particles. 1985 Klaus von Klitzing (born 1943) German Application of quantum theory to commercial electronics. 1986 Ernst Ruska (1906-88) German Gerd Binnig (born 1947) German Heinrich Rohrer (born 1933) Swiss Invention of the first working electron microscope. Invention of the scanning tunneling microscope. 1987 Johannes Georg Bednorz (born 1950) German Karl A. Muller (born 1927) Swiss Discoveries in the field of superconductivity. 1988 Leon Max Lederman (born 1922) American Melvin Schwartz (born 1932) American Jack Steinberger (born 1921) American Discovery of a new subatomic particle, the muon neutrino. 1989 Hans G. Dehmelt (born 1922) American Wolfgang Paul (born 1913) German Norman F. Ramsey (born 1915) American Development of method to isolate charged particles and atoms to study properties. Work leading to development of atomic clock. 1990 Richard E. Taylor (born 1929) Canadian Jerome I. Friedman (born 1930) American Henry W. Kendall (born 1926) American Work to prove the existence of the quark. 1991 Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (born 1932) French Work on how complex forms of matter behave. 1992 Georges Charpak (born 1924) French Development of detector devices used in particle accelerators. 1993 Russell Hulse American -- (52) Princeton University Joseph Taylor American -- (42) Princeton University For discovering binary pulsars. They are dense spinning stars which give off pulses of magnetic energy. Russell Hulse and Joseph Taylor made their discovery in 1974 of what is called pulsar PSR 1913 + 16 (the figures giving the position in the sky) using a 300 -metre Radiotelescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Taylor was then a professor at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and Hulse was his research student. The first pulsar had been discovered in 1967, a small, quickly rotating star that gives out radiation that is often within the radio wave region and is like a beacon. The Hulse-Taylor pulsar was a new development since it was "accompanied by an approximately equally heavy companion at a distance corresponding to only a few times the distance of the moon from the earth." It described these two stars as a "new revolutionary space laboratory . . . for testing Einstein's general theory of relativity and alternate theories of gravity." This is possible since the pulsars, each with a radius of about 10 kilometres (six miles) but a mass comparable to that of the sun, are close enough so that the effect of gravity, which Einstein said was due to the curving of space-time near masses, is more easily observable. "Of particular interest has been the possibility of verifying with great precision the theory's prediction that the system should lose energy by emitting gravitational waves in about the same way that a system of moving electrical charges emits electromagnetic waves," Nobel Physics Committee statement 1994 Clifford G. Shull (Canadian) -- (79) Massachusetts Institute of Technology Bertram N. Brockhouse (American)-- (76) McMaster University Both researchers, pioneers in the field of neutron scattering, developed neutron spectroscopy, a method of studying atoms, the elements that make up all matter. Brockhouse and Shull carried out their research in the years following World War II at some of the first nuclear reactors. "In simple terms, Clifford G. Shull has helped answer the question of where atoms 'are' and Bertram N. Brockhouse the question of what atoms 'do,' " the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in announcing the award. Ironically, Mr. Brockhouse and Mr. Shull were never interested in nuclear power. They merely used the primitive research reactors to study the way neutrons are scattered when bouncing against atoms. Using beams of neutrons the way a microscope uses light, the researchers were able to reveal the atoms' structure and movement. Essentially, Mr. Brockhouse and Mr. Shull helped answer the questions of what atoms are and what they do. Recently, researchers have started to use neutron scattering to study virus and DNA molecules. Mr. Larsson said the method has proved useful in the detailed study of metal fatigue, crucial to aviation and bridge building. A Swedish professor and member of the Academy of Sciences, Karl Erik Larsson, said the nuclear power debate kept the Nobel committee from honoring the physicists until now. The Baltimore Sun, October 13, 1994 1995 Martin L. Perl of Stanford University Frederick Reines of the University of California, Irvine. Two of nature's most remarkable subatomic particles, tau and the neutrino The winners of the physics prize discovered subatomic particles called the tau and the neutrino. In the mid-1970s, Perl found the tau, a heavier cousin of the electron. The tau is highly unstable and decays into other particles in less than a trillionth of a second. The discovery uncovered a family of subatomic particles that the Nobel citation said is crucial for current theories of how nature's smallest particles behave. 1996 1996 David M. Lee -- Cornell University American Douglas D. Osheroff -- Stanford University American Robert C. Richardson -- Cornell University American For their discovery of superfluidity in helium-3. "When the temperature sinks on a cold winter's day water vapour becomes water and water becomes ice. These so-called phase transitions and the changed states of matter can be roughly described and understood with classical physics. What happens when the temperature falls is that the random heat movement in gases, liquids and solid bodies ceases. But the situation becomes entirely different when the temperature sinks further and approaches absolute zero, -273.15°C. In samples of liquid helium what is termed superfluidity occurs, a phenomenon that cannot be understood in terms of classical physics. When a liquid becomes superfluid its atoms suddenly lose all their randomness and move in a coordinated manner in each movement. This causes the liquid to lack all inner friction: It can overflow a cup, flow out through very small holes, and exhibits a whole series of other non-classical effects. Fundamental understanding of the properties of such a liquid requires an advanced form of quantum physics, and these very cold liquids are therefore termed quantum liquids. By studying the roperties of quantum liquids in detail and comparing these with the predictions of quantum physics low-temperature, researchers are contributing valuable knowledge of the bases for describing matter at the microscopic level." Source: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Prize in Physics in Memory of Alfred Nobel, 1996 http://www.nobel.se/announcement-96/physics96.html Suggestions and comments about these guides are welcome. Mitchell Brown, MLIS at notmcb@unix1.sncc.lsu.edu This document was last updated: Wednesday, 27-Nov-96 16:33:17 CST Copyright © 1995 Mitchell C. Brown Louisiana State University Libraries, Chemistry Library. Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803-3100 All rights reserved. URL: http://www.lib.lsu.edu/sci/chem/guides/srs118_physics.html Browsers without images may use the following links: [Chemistry Library Intro] [Chemistry Library Tour] [Chemistry Department] [Biochemistry Department] [Internet Resources in Chemistry and Biochemistry] [Chemistry Library Computer Room] [Chemical Information Instruction Materials] [LSU Virtual Library] LSU Libraries LSU and Louisiana Internet Webliography LSU Main Page