Niels Bohr

What was his nationality? 
Danish

When did he live?  
October 7, 1885 (in Copenhagen) - November 18, 1962 (in Copenhagen)

What was going on in the world around him?
The two great wars, one as a young man and the other in his more mature years.

What was going on in the scientific community?

• Einstein's breakthrough, setting the picture for new (modern) Physics.
• People were learning more and more about particles.
• Bohr helped developing the atomic bomb in the Manhattan Project, among with a number of other famous physicists.

What was Bohr famous for?

• Bohr conceived the principle of complementarity: that items could be separately analyzed as having several contradictory properties. 
• Investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them 
• Bohr introduced the idea that an electron could drop from a higher-energy orbit to a lower one, emitting a photon (light quantum) of discrete energy. This became a basis for quantum theory

What is his cultural and scientific legacy? 

• after Bohr's death, the Institute of Physics at the University of Copenhagen changed its name to the Niels Bohr Institute
• Bohrium (a chemical element, atomic number 107) is named in honour of Niels Bohr
• The Centennial of Bohr's birth was commemorated in Denmark on 3 October 1985 with a postage stamp depicting Bohr with his wife Margrethe
• In 1997 the Danish National Bank started circulating the 500-krone banknote with the portrait of Niels Bohr smoking a pipe   

by Aidin Khalili