ALPHABETICAL BRAIN™ VOCABULARY #3 OF THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL SCIENTISTS #3 NIELS BOHR Life Dates: 1885-1962 A.D. UNDERSTANDING OF THE ATOM Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr was also a philosopher and a promoter of scientific research. Bohr developed the Bohr Model of the Atom, in which he proposed that energy levels of electrons are discrete and that the electrons revolve in stable orbits around the atomic nucleus but can jump from one energy level (or orbit) to another. Although the Bohr Model has been supplanted by other models, its underlying principles remain valid. In addition, he conceived the Principle of Complementarity, which is the idea that items could be separately analysed in terms of contradictory properties, like behaving as a wave or a stream of particles. This idea of complementarity dominated Bohr's thinking in both science and philosophy. SOURCES = The Scientific 100 by John Simmons (15-20); Britannica Encyclopedia; and Wikipedia. instantly go to: NUMERICAL LIST OF 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL SCIENTISTS IN HISTORY or return to: ALPHABETICAL BRAIN™ VOCABULARY INDEX