-
Early Life
Niels Bohr was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to highly educated and fairly wealthy parents. His father was a physiology professor at Copenhagen University (Makunda, 2013). It is believed that the exposure to highly intellectual material at a young age influenced and assisted Bohr in higher education. -
The Split
After receiving his PhD in 1911, he sought out opportunities to work with J J Thompson. Upon meeting Thompson their relationship proved nothing substantial besides Bohr discovering errors in Thompsons work. Later that year, Rutherford had published his model of the atom, and this intrigued Bohr. Rutherford took a trip to Cambridge and the account between the two was nothing but positive. Shortly after that, Bohr went to Manchester to work with Rutherford (Mukunda, 2013). -
From Classical to Quantum Physics
Dirac states that, the steps taken by Bohr were the most difficult during the passage from classical to quantum physics. Upon reaching Manchester, Bohr saw -- based on Rutherford's atom -- that a need for new mechanics for the atom needed to be created. -
Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen
This institution became a meeting ground for physicists to visit or work temporarily. Throughout the shift form old to new quantum theory, the three centers in Munich, Gottingen, and Copenhagen formed a triangle to pursue a better understanding with calculations and interpretations (Mukunda, 2013). -
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prize for 1921 and '22 were announced with the awards going to Einstein and Bohr. They had a mutual respectful relationship and enjoyed each others work/ company. Later years saw Bohr disproving Einstein's theories which lead to a greater understanding of the entanglement of quantum mechanics (Mukunda, 2013).