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Education
Bohr enrolled as an undergraduate at Copenhagen University in 1903. (Aaserud) In 1905, he won first place in a school competition on the investigation of the surface tension of liquids by means of oscillating fluid jets. (Wikipedia) He built on this research and published is finding in Transactions of the Royal Society in 1908. (Niels Bohr - Biographical) He completed is masters in 1909 and doctorate in physics 1911. (Niels Bohr - Biographical) -
Family
Bohr married Margrethe Norland 08/01/1912 and had six children. (Aaserud) One son, Aage N. Bohr, became a physicist and won the Nobel Prize in 1975 for his work on the collective model of the atomic nucleus. (Aaserud) -
Institute of Theoretical Physics
Bohr founded the Institute of Theoretical Physics (now known as Niels Bohr Institute) at the University of Copenhagen. -
Wins Nobel Prize
Bohr won the Nobel Prize in 1922 due to his work on atomic structures. (Aaserud) Bohr developed his theory based on Ernest Rutherford and Charles Darwin's work. He advanced the theory that electrons traveled in orbits around the atom's nucleus and the chemical properties of the element are largely determined by the number of electrons in the outer orbit. He introduced the idea that an electron can drop from a higher-energy orbit to a lower one thus emitting a quantum energy. -
Concept of Complementarity
In 1927, Bohr presented his concept to an Italian conference. (Editors) His concept was that physical properties on an atomic level are viewed differently based on the experimental parameters used. He gives this as the reason why light can be seen as a particle or a wave but not both at the same time. He applied this philosophically saying that the evolving concepts of physics affected human perspectives. -
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World War II
Bohr gave refuge to displaced German Jewish physicists at his institute. He was then forced to flee Copenhagen to Sweden in 1943. (Aaserud) He made his way to American and worked shortly with the Manhattan Project. His earlier liquid droplet theory helped understand the mechanism of nuclear fission when the splitting of uranium was discovered. Bohr advocated for international arms control. He discussed this with Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt with no avail. -
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After the War
Bohr returned to Copenhagen in 08/25/1945 after the war. (Wikipedia) Bohr wrote an “Open Letter to the United Nations” 06/09/1950. (Aaserud) This letter called for peaceful applications of atomic energy. He envisioned an “open world” concept between countries and true cultural exchange. He helped establish CERN, a particle physics research facility and became chairman of the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics in 1957. Bohr suffered from a stroke and later died November 18, 1962.
