Person

Born, Max (1882 - 1970)

FRS

Born
11 December 1882
Breslau, Germany
Died
5 January 1970
Göttingen, West Germany
Occupation
Nobel laureate and Physicist

Summary

Max Born helped develop quantum mechanics, which forms the basis of modern atomic and nuclear physics. In quantum mechanics he interpreted wave functions statistically and developed the ideas of 3-dimensional particle motion. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1954 (shared with Walther Bothe) for his fundamental research in quantum mechanics, especially for his statistical interpretation of the wavefunction.

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Details

Born Breslau, Germany (now Poland), 11 December 1882. Died 1970. Educated Göttingen University (PhD 1907) and Cambridge (MA 1933). Privatexent, Göttingen University 1909; professor, University of Berlin 1915; professor, Frankfurt University 1919; professor, Göttingen University 1921; professor of natural philosophy, Edinburgh 1936-53, emeritus from 1953. Stokes medal, Cambridge 1934; Fellow, Royal Society 1939; Macdougall-Brisbane and Gunning-Victoria Jubilee Prize, Royal Society of Edinburgh 1945, 1950; Max Planck Medaille, Germany 1948; Hughes Medal, Royal Society 1950; Freedom of the City of Göttingen 1953; Nobel prize (with W. Bothe) 1954; Grotius Medal, Munich 1956.

Chronology

1954
Award - Nobel Prize in Physics (shared with Walther Bothe) - for his fundamental research in quantum mechanics, especially for his statistical interpretation of the wavefunction

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

  • Max Born - Records, 1962, MS 041; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

Resources

Gavan McCarthy

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 22 October 2025

EOAS ID: biogs/P000246b.htm

This Edition: 2026 February - 1926 Centenaries
Kooyang - Gariwerd calendar - Late summer: late January to late March - season of eels
Reference: https://www.bom.gov.au/resources/indigenous-weather-knowledge/indigenous-seasonal-calendars/gariwerd-calendar#bom-anchor-list__item-kooyang-season-of-eels

Publisher: Swinburne University of Technology.

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Cite this page: https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P000246b.htm

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"... the rengitj, as a visible mark or imprint on the land, is characterised as a place of origin, the repository of all names, as well as a kind of mapped visual expression of the connection between people and places which is to be carried out in the temporal sequence of the journey." Fanca Tamisari (1998) 'Body, Vision and Movement: In the footprints of the ancestors'. Oceania 68(4) p260