Quantum Theory
Year of Discovery: 1925
What Is It? A mathematical system that accurately describes the behavior of
the subatomic world.
Who Discovered It? Max Born
Why Is This One of the 100 Greatest?
In the first 20 years of the twentieth century, physics buzzed with the incredible discovery of the subatomic world. Long before microscopes were powerful enough to allow
researchers to see an atom, scientists used mathematics to probe into the subatomic world of
electrons, protons, and alpha and beta particles.
Albert Einstein, Werner Heisenberg, Max Planck, Paul Dirac, and other famed researchers posed theories to explain this bizarre new territory. But it was quiet, unassuming
Max Born who discovered a unified quantum theory that systematically, mathematically
described the subatomic world.
Max Born’s gift to the world was a brand-new field of study we call “quantum mechanics” that is the basis of all modern atomic and nuclear physics and solid state mechanics. It is because of Max Born that we are now able to quantitatively describe the world of
subatomic particles.
How Was It Discovered?
Einstein published his general theory of relativity in 1905. So, for the last year and a
half of his university study, 25-year-old Göttingen University mathematics student Max
Born lived in a world abuzz with the wonder, implication 2??B?FV?F???bV??7FV??( ?2&??@??B&Wf??WF???'?F?V?'???&?GFW&?g'W7G&FVBF?B?R6?V?F?( ?Bf??B?7Fw&GVFR?6?F???F?Bv?V?B???r???F??6??F??VR??27GVF?W2?bF?R7V&F??2v?&?B?&?&?&WGW&?VB???RF??fR????26???F???@?&????v?&???r???Rf?"Gv??V'2BF?RFW6??RW6VBf?"???Wv?&?2&????RG&?VBF?????2?F?V?F?6?FV6???w2F?F?R&?&?V?2?b7V&F??2&V?F?f?G?2FW67&?&VB???V??7FV??( ?2F?V?'??F?&?Vv?F??2v?&????&?&?F?66?fW&VB6???f?VB?B??&R67W&FP??WF??B?b6?7V?F??rF?R??W67V?R?72?b?V?V7G&????&?&?w&?FRW"????2f??F??w2F?BvV?W&FVB??ffW"f?"gV???F??R?6?F???@?|;gGF??vV?V??fW'6?G??Gv?vVV?2gFW"?R7F'FVB?F?R??"Wf?&FVB?&?&???VB&6???C????