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Birth
Niels Bohr was born on October 7th 1885 in Copenhagen. His father, Christian Bohr, was a professor of physiology and an important cultural figure. He had a younger brother named Harald and an older sister named Jenny. -
Rutherford
Bohr decided to go to Manchester to work with Rutherford. Bohr recognized that the Rutherford atom model would explain the properties of chemical elements, set up the structure of the periodic table, and chemistry in general. He also saw that alpha and beta rays originated from the nucleus. He began to create a new quantum version of the Rutherford atom. He gave Rutherford a draft of his paper on his works before returning to Copenhagen. -
University of Copenhagen
In 1912 Bohr was appointed assistant professor at the University in Copenhagen. Later in 1916, he became professor of theoretical physics. These positions helped him mentor the next generation of physicists and help lead the way. -
On the Constitution of Atoms and Molecules: Parts I,II,and III
Bohr's ‘On the Constitution of Atoms and Molecules ’ first appeared in the Philosophical Magazine in July of 1913. He showed that the hydrogen atom has 1 electron while the helium atom has 2 electrons. He concluded electrons could only occupy set orbits determined by the quantum of action. Also, the electromagnetic radiation from an atom occurred only when an electron jumped to a lower-energy orbit. An important aspect was his prediction of line spectrum of radiation by atom. -
Niels Bohr Institute
In April 1917 Bohr began a campaign to establish an Institute of Theoretical Physics. Through the support of the Danish government and Carlsberg Foundation, and contributions by private donors, legislation establishing the institute was passed in November 1918. On March 3, 1921, in his inauguration speech, he stressed the importance of experiments, and expressed ambition to make the institute a place for young physicist to propose new ideas, which it became in the 1920’s. -
Nobel Prize
On November 10, 1922, the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1922 was announced and awarded to Bohr "for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them”. -
Second World War; flee
In 1943, Bohr and his family were forced to flee Copenhagen due to Nazi Germany occupying Denmark during the second world war. He lived in England for a short period, and then moved to the United States under a false name of Nicholas Baker. He became actively involved in the work at Los Alamos, New Mexico on the Manhattan Project, and even unsuccessfully attempted to promote cooperation and control of mass destruction weapons with Winston Churchill. -
Death
He passed away from a stroke on November 18, 1962 in Copenhagen -
informative video
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Citations
Bohr, N. (1922). The theory of spectra and atomic constitution; three essays, by Niels Bohr. University Press, 1922.
“Bohr's Atomic Model | Atoms and Molecules | Don't Memorise.” YouTube, YouTube, 30 July 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1LDJUu4nko.
Learn about Niels Bohr’s refinement of the Rutherford model of the atom. (2020). Encyclopedia Britannica.
Mukunda, N. (2013). The life and work of Niels Bohr — A brief sketch. Resonance, 18(10), 877–884. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-013-0114