Niels Bohr was one of the foremost scientists of modern physics, best known for his

substantial contributions to quantum theory and his Nobel Prize-winning research on the
structure of atoms.

Born in Copenhagen in 1885 to well-educated parents, Bohr became interested in

physics at a young age. He studied the subject throughout his undergraduate and
graduate years and earned a doctorate in physics in 1911 from Copenhagen University.

While still a student, Bohr won a contest put on by the Academy of Sciences in
Copenhagen for his investigation into the measurements of liquid surface tension using
oscillating fluid jets. Working in the laboratory of his father (a renowned physiologist),
Bohr conducted several experiments and even made his own glass test tubes.

Bohr went above and beyond the current theory of liquid surface tension by taking into
account the viscosity of the water as well as incorporating finite amplitudes rather than
infinitesimal ones. He submitted his essay at the last minute, winning first place and a
gold medal. He improved upon these ideas and sent them to the Royal Society in
London, who published them in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
Society in 1908, according to Nobelprize.org.
His subsequent work became increasingly theoretical. It was while conducting research
for his doctoral thesis on the electron theory of metals that Bohr first came across Max
Planck's early quantum theory, which described energy as tiny particles, or quanta.

In 1912, Bohr was working for the Nobel laureate J.J. Thompson in England when he
was introduced to Ernest Rutherford, whose discovery of the nucleus and development
of an atomic model had earned him a Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1908. Under
Rutherford's tutelage, Bohr began studying the properties of atoms.

Bohr held a lectureship in physics at Copenhagen University from 1913 to 1914 and
went on to hold a similar position at Victoria University in Manchester from 1914 to
1916. He went back to Copenhagen University in 1916 to become a professor of
theoretical physics. In 1920, he was appointed the head of the Institute for Theoretical
Physics.

Combining Rutherford's description of the nucleus and Planck's theory about quanta,
Bohr explained what happens inside an atom and developed a picture of atomic
structure. This work earned him a Nobel Prize of his own in 1922.

In the same year that he began his studies with Rutherford, Bohr married the love of his
life, Margaret Nørlund, with whom he had six sons. Later in life, he became president of
the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences, as well as a member of scientific academies all
over the world.

When the Nazis invaded Denmark in World War II, Bohr managed to escape to
Sweden. He spent the last two years of the war in England and the United States,
where he got involved with the Atomic Energy Project. It was important to him, however,
to use his skills for good and not violence. He dedicated his work toward the peaceful
use of atomic physics and toward solving political problems arising from the
development of atomic weapons of destruction. He believed that nations should be
completely open with one another and wrote down these views in his Open Letter to the
United Nations in 1950.

A stylized representation of a lithium atom illustrates Niels Bohr's atomic model, that an atom is a small, positively
charged nucleus surrounded by orbiting electrons.
(Image credit: Boris15 Shutterstock)

Atomic model
Bohr's greatest contribution to modern physics was the atomic model. The Bohr model
shows the atom as a small, positively charged nucleus surrounded by orbiting
electrons.

Bohr was the first to discover that electrons travel in separate orbits around the nucleus
and that the number of electrons in the outer orbit determines the properties of an
element.
The chemical element bohrium (Bh), No. 107 on the periodic table of elements, is named
for him.
Liquid droplet theory
Bohr's theoretical work contributed significantly to scientists' understanding of nuclear
fission. According to his liquid droplet theory, a liquid drop provides an accurate
representation of an atom's nucleus.
This theory was instrumental in the first attempts to split uranium atoms in the 1930s, an
important step in the development of the atomic bomb.

Despite his contributions to the U.S. Atomic Energy Project during World War II, Bohr
was an outspoken advocate for the peaceful application of atomic physics.

Quantum theory