Biographical
Chen Ning Yang – Biographical
Biographical
Chen Ning Yang was born on September 22, 1922, in Hofei, Anwhei, China, the first of five children of Ke Chuan Yang and Meng Hwa Loh Yang. He is also known as Frank or Franklin. Yang was brought up in the peaceful and academically inclined atmosphere of the campus of Tsinghua University, just outside of…
moreNorman F. Ramsey – Biographical
Biographical
I was born August 27, 1915 in Washington, D.C. My mother, daughter of German immigrants, had been a mathematics instructor at the University of Kansas. My father, descended from Scottish refugees and a West Point graduate, was an officer in the Army Ordnance Corps. His frequently changing assignments took us from Washington, DC to Topeka,…
moreHenri Becquerel – Biographical
Biographical
Antoine Henri Becquerel was born in Paris on December 15, 1852, a member of a distinguished family of scholars and scientists. His father, Alexander Edmond Becquerel, was a Professor of Applied Physics and had done research on solar radiation and on phosphorescence, while his grandfather, Antoine César, had been a Fellow of the Royal Society…
moreTsung-Dao Lee – Biographical
Biographical
Tsung-Dao (T.D.) Lee was born in Shanghai, China, on November 24, 1926, the third of six children of Tsing-Kong Lee and Ming-Chang Chang. He received most of his high school education in Shanghai. During 1943-1944, he attended the National Chekiang University in Kweichow Province. In 1945, he attended the National Southwest Associated University in Kunming,…
moreDennis Gabor – Biographical
Biographical
I was born in Budapest, Hungary, on June 5, 1900, the oldest son of Bertalan Gabor, director of a mining company, and his wife Adrienne. My life-long love of physics started suddenly at the age of 15. I could not wait until I got to the university, I learned the calculus and worked through the…
morePierre Curie – Biographical
Biographical
Pierre Curie was born in Paris, where his father was a general medical practitioner, on May 15, 1859. He received his early education at home before entering the Faculty of Sciences at the Sorbonne. He gained his Licenciateship in Physics in 1878 and continued as a demonstrator in the physics laboratory until 1882 when he…
moreHideki Yukawa – Biographical
Biographical
Hideki Yukawa was born in Tokyo, Japan, on 23rd January, 1907, the third son of Takuji Ogawa, who later became Professor of Geology at Kyoto University. The future Laureate was brought up in Kyoto and graduated from the local university in 1929. Since that time he has been engaged on investigations in theoretical physics, particularly…
moreAlfred Kastler – Biographical
Biographical
Alfred Kastler was born in Guebwiller in Alsace on May 3, 1902. He followed his early studies at the school in his native town, and continued at the Oberrealschule of Colmar, which became the Lycee Bartholdi in 1918, when Alsace was returned to France. He entered the École Normale Superieure in 1921, and left in…
moreZhores I. Alferov – Biographical
Biographical
Life goes on surprisingly fast. It seems to happen a short time ago that I would attend anniversary celebrations in honour of noted physicists, my teachers who to my mind looked quite old. But at the present time, I myself have recently marked the 70th birthday. My parents, Ivan Karpovich, and Anna Vladimirovna, had been…
moreAage N. Bohr – Biographical
Biographical
I was born in Copenhagen on June 19, 1922, as the fourth son of and Margrethe Bohr (née Nørlund). During my early childhood, my parents lived at the Institute for Theoretical Physics (now the Niels Bohr Institute), and the remarkable generation of scientists who came to join my father in his work became for us…
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