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Birth
Niels Henrik David Bohr born in Copenhagen, Denmark. -
University of Copenhagen.
He spent much of his childhood repairing and fixing things and showed great potential even at a young age. He excelled in grade school and in 1903 Niels Bohr graduated high school and was accepted to attend the University of Copenhagen. He knew before even starting there that he wanted to study Physics. -
Gold Medal from the Royal Danish Academy of Science
During his time as a student he won this medal by working in the lab of his father. He preformed many studies and experiments. Investigating liquid surface tension with the use of oscillating fluid jets. He then went on to improve and publish his findings in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1908. -
Masters Degree in Physics
After his gold medal he went on to further his education and eventually ended up receiving his masters degree in physics. -
Doctorate
After receiving his master he went on to write his dissertation on the electron theory of metals. This was just the beginning of his studies which would lead to his Nobel Prize. -
1st of 3 writings.
In August of 1912 Niels Bohr married his wife Margrethe. After their wedding they traveled to Norway. This is where Niels would write his first written work. Not having the best hand writing or English his wife helped him. This worked out perfectly and she become his secretary. Niels would return home and continue working on his atomic model into the fall of 1912. -
Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford was a physicist who invited Niels Bohr to Manchester, England to study with him in April 1912. A year prior to this Rutherford and his colleagues learned that an atom consisted of a positively charged nucleus with negative charged electrons orbiting around it. This study was the break through beginning of Niels Bohr's as a physicist. He realized that a new solution was required. https://youtu.be/S1LDJUu4nko -
J.J. Balmer, the missing link.
J.J. Balmer was another physicist who had a formula in experimental spectroscopy. Niels Bohr's colleague introduced him to J.J. Balmer's formula. This formula described the spectrum of an hydrogen atom but did not explain it. Niels Bohr realized that his theory of the atom predicted this formula. Niels Bohr would go on to publish three articles in 1913. His studies predicted a lot of experimental results and eventually was accepted by physicist. -
Nobel Prize
Niels Bohr's theory was not accepted at first and many people looked at it with skepticism but over time with it predicting experiments it was accepted and in 1922 it earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics. -
Manhattan Project
Niels Bohr would eventually have to leave Denmark and move to England to evade the Nazis. While in London he worked with the British Tube Alloys nuclear weapons development team. This would lead to him moving to the United States. While in the U.S. he worked on the Manhattan Project as a consultant to Nicholas Baker in the development of atomic weapons. Despite this though he was very vocal about his views on world peace. -
United States Atom Peace Award
Niels Bohr would return back to Denmark after the war. In 1957 though, he would receive the United States Atoms for Peace Award for his work towards peaceful nuclear technology. -
Death
Niels Bohr would pass away November 18, 1962 in Copenhagen, Denmark due to congestive heart failure.