AccessScience > Biographies > Nobel Prize Winners

Nobel Prize Winners

2012

2011

Awarded for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe through observations of distant supernovae, with one half to Saul Perlmutter and the other half jointly to Brian P. Schmidt and Adam G. Riess.

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Accelerating universe | Big bang theory | Cosmic background radiation | Cosmological constant | Cosmology | Dark energy | Supernova | Universe | Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe

2010

Awarded jointly to: Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene.

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Carbon nanotubes | Carbon‑based electronics | Fullerene

2009

The prize was divided, with one half awarded to:

Charles K. Kao for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication.

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Fiber‑optic circuit | Optical communications | Optical fibers | Optical materials

and with one half to:

Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit, the CCD sensor.

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Astronomical imaging | Charge‑coupled devices | Digital photography

2008

The prize was divided, with one half to:

Yoichiro Nambu for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics

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Quantum chromodynamics | Standard model | Symmetry breaking | Symmetry laws (physics)

and with one half awarded jointly to:

Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature.

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Elementary particle | Quarks | Symmetry breaking | Symmetry laws (physics) | Time reversal invariance | Weak nuclear interactions

2007

Awarded jointly to: Albert Fert and Peter Grünberg for the discovery of giant magnetoresistance.

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Magnetic random access memories | Magnetoelectronics | Magnetoresistance | Magnetoresistance research

2006

Awarded jointly to: John C. Mather and George F. Smoot for their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation.

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Big bang theory | Cosmic background radiation | Cosmology | Gravitational redshift | Universe | Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe | WMAP design and first‑year results

2005

The prize was divided, with one half awarded jointly to:

John L. Hall and Theodor W. Hänsch (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Laser spectroscopy, Rydberg constant) For contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique.

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Laser spectroscopy | Laser spectroscopy | Light | Rydberg constant

and with one half to:

Roy J. Glauber for his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence.

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Coherence | Squeezed quantum states

2004

Awarded jointly to: David J. Gross (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Quantum field theory), H. David Politzer and Frank Wilczek (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Excited state, Group theory, Symmetry breaking, Symmetry laws (physics), Anyons, Conservation laws (physics), Geometric phase, Quark-gluon matter) for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction.

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Gluons | Quantum chromodynamics | Quark‑gluon matter | Quarks | Standard model

2003

Awarded jointly to: Alexei A. Abrikosov, Vitaly L. Ginzburg and Anthony J. Leggett (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Quantum theory of measurement) for their work on the theory of superconductors and superfluids.

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Quantum theory of measurement | Superconducting devices | Superconductivity | Superfluidity

2002

The prize was divided, with one half awarded jointly to:

Raymond Davis, Jr and Masatoshi Koshiba for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, in particular for the detection of cosmic neutrinos

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Neutrino | Neutrino astronomy | Neutrino astrophysics | Neutrino oscillations | Solar neutrinos | Solar neutrinos

and with one half to:

Riccardo Giacconi for pioneering contributions to astrophysics that led to the discovery of cosmic X-ray sources.

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Astrophysics, high‑energy | Chandra X‑ray Observatory: design, launch, and early discoveries | Rocket astronomy | ROSAT mission | X‑ray astronomy | X‑ray telescope

2001

Awarded jointly to: Eric A. Cornell, Wolfgang Ketterle (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Bose-Einstein condensation, Atom laser) and Carl E. Wieman for the achievement of producing Bose-Einstein condensation in low density vapors of alkali atoms, and for their studies on the fundamental properties of the condensates.

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Atom laser | Bose‑Einstein condensation

2000

The prize was divided, with one half awarded jointly to:

Zhores I. Alferov and Herbert Kroemer for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and opto-electronics

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Semiconductor heterostructures

and

Jack S. Kilby for his part in the invention of the integrated circuit.

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Integrated circuits

1999

The prize was awarded jointly to: Gerardus 't Hooft and Martinus J.G. Veltman for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions in physics.

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Electroweak interaction | Fundamental interactions | Gauge theory

1998

Awarded jointly to: Robert B. Laughlin, Horst L. Störmer and Daniel C. Tsui for their discovery of a new form of quantum fluid with fractionally charged excitations.

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Anyons | Hall effect

1997

Awarded jointly to: Steven Chu (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Particle trap), Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William D. Phillips (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Laser cooling) for development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light.

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Laser cooling | Particle trap

1996

Awarded jointly to: David M. Lee (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Absolute zero), Douglas D. Osheroff and Robert C. Richardson for their discovery of superfluidity in helium-3.

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Liquid helium | Superfluidity

1995

Awarded for pioneering experimental contributions to lepton physics, with one half to:

Martin L. Perl (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Lepton) for the discovery of the tau lepton.

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Lepton

and the other half to:

Frederick Reines for the detection of the neutrino.

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Neutrino

1994

Awarded for pioneering contributions to the development of neutron scattering techniques for studies of condensed \nmatter to:

Bertram N. Brockhouse (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Slow neutron spectroscopy) for the development of neutron spectroscopy,

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Slow neutron spectroscopy

Clifford G. Shull for the development of the neutron diffraction technique.

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Neutron diffraction

1993

Awarded jointly to: Russell A. Hulse and Joseph H. Taylor Jr. for the discovery of a new type of pulsar, a discovery that has opened up new possibilities for the study of gravitation.

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Gravitation | Gravitation | Pulsar | Relativity

1992

Georges Charpak for his invention and development of particle detectors, in particular the multiwire proportional chamber.

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Particle detector

1991

Pierre-Gilles De Gennes for discovering that methods developed for studying order phenomena in simple systems can be generalized to more complex forms of matter, in particular to liquid crystals and polymers.

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Liquid crystals | Phase transitions | Polymer

1990

Awarded jointly to: Jerome I. Friedman, Henry W. Kendall and Richard E. Taylor for their pioneering investigations concerning deep inelastic scattering of electrons on protons and bound neutrons, which have been of essential importance for the development of the quark model in particle physics.

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Deep inelastic collisions | Quarks

1989

One half of the award was given to:

Norman F. Ramsey (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Negative temperature) for the invention of the separated oscillatory fields method and its use in the hydrogen maser and other atomic clocks and the other half jointly to:

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Atomic clock | Maser | Molecular beams | Negative temperature

and the other half jointly to:

Hans G. Dehmelt (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Nuclear quadrupole resonance) and Wolfgang Paul for the development of the ion trap technique.

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Nuclear quadrupole resonance | Particle trap

1988

Awarded jointly to: Leon M. Lederman, Melvin Schwartz and Jack Steinberger for the neutrino beam method and the demonstration of the doublet structure of the leptons through the discovery of the muon neutrino.

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Neutrino

1987

Awarded jointly to: J. Georg Bednorz and K. Alexander Müller for their important breakthrough in the discovery of superconductivity in ceramic materials.

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Superconductivity

1986

Awarded by one half to:

Ernst Ruska for his fundamental work in electron optics, and for the design of the first electron microscope

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Charged particle optics | Electron microscope

and

Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer for their design of the scanning tunneling microscope.

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Scanning tunneling microscope

1985

Klaus Von Klitzing for the discovery of the quantized Hall effect.

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Hall effect

1984

Awarded jointly to: Carlo Rubbia and Simon Van Der Meer for their decisive contributions to the large project, which led to the discovery of the field particles W and Z, communicators of weak interaction.

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Fundamental interactions | Intermediate vector boson | Particle accelerator | Weak nuclear interactions

1983

Divided equally between:

Subramanyan Chandrasekhar for his theoretical studies of the physical processes of importance to the structure and evolution of the stars and

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Star | Stellar evolution

William A. Fowler for his theoretical and experimental studies of the nuclear reactions of importance in the formation of the chemical elements in the universe.

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Nucleosynthesis

1982

Kenneth G. Wilson for his theory for critical phenomena in connection with phase transitions.

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Critical phenomena | Phase transitions | Renormalization

1981

Awarded by one half jointly to:

Nicolaas Bloembergen and Arthur L. Schawlow (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Laser) for their contribution to the development of laser spectroscopy and the other half to:

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Laser spectroscopy | Laser spectroscopy

and the other half to:

Kai M. Siegbahn (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Electron spectroscopy) for his contribution to the development of high-resolution electron spectroscopy.

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Electron spectroscopy

1980

Divided equally between: James W. Cronin and Val L. Fitch (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; CPT theorem, Flavor) for the discovery of violations of fundamental symmetry principles in the decay of neutral K-mesons.

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CPT theorem | Flavor | Meson | Symmetry laws (physics) | Time reversal invariance | Weak nuclear interactions

1979

Divided equally between: Sheldon L. Glashow, Abdus Salam (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Fundamental interactions) and Steven Weinberg for their contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, including inter alia the prediction of the weak neutral current.

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Electroweak interaction | Elementary particle | Fundamental interactions | Neutral currents | Weak nuclear interactions

1978

Divided, one half being awarded to:

Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa for his basic inventions and discoveries in the area of low-temperature physics and the other half divided equally between:

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Kapitza resistance | Liquid helium | Low‑temperature physics | Superfluidity

and the other half divided equally between:

Arno A. Penzias and Robert W. Wilson for their discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation.

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Big bang theory | Cosmic background radiation | Cosmology

1977

Divided equally between: Philip W. Anderson, Sir Nevill F. Mott and John H. Van Vleck for their fundamental theoretical investigations of the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems.

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Amorphous solid | Antiferromagnetism | Band theory of solids | Jahn‑Teller effect | Magnetic susceptibility | Magnetochemistry | Paramagnetism | Solid‑state physics

1976

Divided equally between: Burton Richter and Samuel C. C. Ting (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; J/psi particle) for their pioneering work in the discovery of a heavy elementary particle of a new kind.

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Elementary particle | J/psi particle | Meson | Quarks

1975

Awarded jointly to: Aage Bohr, Ben Mottelson and James Rainwater for the discovery of the connection between collective motion and particle motion in atomic nuclei and the development of the theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus based on this connection.

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Nuclear structure

1974

Awarded jointly to: Sir Martin Ryle and Anthony Hewish for their pioneering research in radio astrophysics; Ryle for his observations and inventions, in particular of the aperture synthesis technique, and Hewish for his decisive role in the discovery of pulsars.

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Pulsar | Radio astronomy | Radio telescope

1973

Divided, one half being equally shared between:

Leo Esaki (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Tunneling in solids) and Ivar Giaever for their experimental discoveries regarding tunneling phenomena in semiconductors and superconductors, respectively, and the other half to

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Superconductivity | Tunnel diode | Tunneling in solids

and the other half to:

Brian D. Josephson for his theoretical predictions of the properties of a supercurrent through a tunnel barrier, in particular those phenomena which are generally known as the Josephson effects.

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Josephson effect | SQUID | Superconducting devices

1972

Awarded jointly to: John Bardeen, Leon N. Cooper and J. Robert Schrieffer for their jointly developed theory of superconductivity, usually called the BCS-theory.

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Superconductivity

1971

Dennis Gabor for his invention and development of the holographic method.

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Holography

1970

Divided equally between:

Hannes Alfvén for fundamental work and discoveries in magneto-hydrodynamics with fruitful applications in different parts of plasma physics and

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Plasma (physics)

Louis Néel for fundamental work and discoveries concerning antiferromagnetism and ferrimagnetism which have led to important applications in solid state physics.

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Antiferromagnetism | Ferrimagnetism

1969

Murray Gell-Mann for his contributions and discoveries concerning the classification of elementary particles and their interactions.

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Baryon | Elementary particle | Meson | Quarks | Unitary symmetry

1968

Luis W. Alvarez for his decisive contributions to elementary particle physics, in particular the discovery of a large number of resonance states, made possible through his development of the technique of using hydrogen bubble chamber and data analysis.

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Baryon | Elementary particle | Meson | Particle detector

1967

Hans Albrecht Bethe (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Theoretical physics) for his contributions to the theory of nuclear reactions, especially his discoveries concerning the energy production in stars.

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Carbon‑nitrogen‑oxygen cycles | Proton‑proton chain

1966

Alfred Kastler for the discovery and development of optical methods for studying hertzian resonances in atoms.

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Atomic structure and spectra | Dynamic nuclear polarization | Optical pumping

1965

Awarded jointly to: Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Julian Schwinger and Richard P. Feynman for their fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics, with deep-ploughing consequences for the physics of elementary particles.

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Feynman diagram | Quantum electrodynamics | Quantum field theory

1964

Divided, one half being awarded to:

Charles H. Townes (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Maser)

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Maser

the other half jointly to:

Nicolay Gennadiyevich Basov and Aleksandr Mikhailovich Prokhorov for fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle.

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Laser | Quantum electronics

1963

Divided, one half being awarded to:

Eugene P. Wigner for his contributions to the theory of the atomic nucleus and the elementary particles, particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental symmetry principles and the other half jointly to:

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Angular momentum | Angular momentum | Nuclear structure | Supermultiplet | Symmetry laws (physics)

and the other half jointly to:

Maria Goeppert-Mayer and J. Hans D. Jensen for their discoveries concerning nuclear shell structure.

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Nuclear structure

1962

1961

Divided equally between:

Robert Hofstadter (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Scintillation counter) for his pioneering studies of electron scattering in atomic nuclei and for his thereby achieved discoveries concerning the structure of the nucleons and

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Neutron | Nuclear structure | Nucleon | Proton | Scattering experiments (nuclei)

Rudolf Ludwig Mössbauer for his researches concerning the resonance absorption of gamma radiation and his discovery in this connection of the effect which bears his name.

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Mössbauer effect

1960

Donald A. Glaser for the invention of the bubble chamber.

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Particle detector

1959

Awarded jointly to: Emilio Gino Segrè and Owen Chamberlain for their discovery of the antiproton.

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Antimatter

1958

Awarded jointly to: Pavel Alekseyevich Cerenkov , Il'ja Mikhailovich Frank and Igor Yevgenyevich Tamm for the discovery and the interpretation of the Cherenkov effect.

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Cerenkov radiation

1957

Awarded jointly to: Chen Ning Yang and Tsung-Dao Lee for their penetrating investigation of the so-called parity laws, which has led to important discoveries regarding the elementary particles.

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Elementary particle | Parity (quantum mechanics) | Symmetry laws (physics) | Weak nuclear interactions

1956

Awarded jointly, one third each, to: William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain for their researches on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect.

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Semiconductor | Transistor

1955

Divided equally between:

Willis Eugene Lamb for his discoveries concerning the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum and

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Atomic structure and spectra | Fine structure (spectral lines)

Polykarp Kusch (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Atomic beams) for his precision determination of the magnetic moment of the electron.

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Atomic beams | Electron spin | Fundamental constants | Molecular beams | Quantum electrodynamics

1954

Divided equally between:

Max Born for his fundamental research in quantum mechanics, especially for his statistical interpretation of the wavefunction

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Nonrelativistic quantum theory | Quantum mechanics

Walther Bothe for the coincidence method and his discoveries made therewith.

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Compton effect | Cosmic rays | Particle detector

1953

Frits (Frederik) Zernike for his demonstration of the phase contrast method, especially for his invention of the phase contrast microscope.

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Phase‑contrast microscope

1952

Awarded jointly to: Felix Bloch and Edward Mills Purcell for their development of new methods for nuclear magnetic precision measurements and discoveries in connection therewith.

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Negative temperature | Neutron | Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) | Nuclear moments

1951

Awarded jointly to: Sir John Douglas Cockcroft and Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton for their pioneer work on the transmutation of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles.

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Nuclear reaction | Particle accelerator | Radioactivity | Transmutation

1950

Cecil Frank Powell for his development of the photographic method of studying nuclear processes and his discoveries regarding mesons made with this method.

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Cosmic rays | Meson | Particle detector

1949

Hideki Yukawa for his prediction of the existence of mesons on the basis of theoretical work on nuclear forces.

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Meson | Quantum (physics) | Quantum field theory | Strong nuclear interactions

1948

Lord Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett for his development of the Wilson cloud chamber method, and his discoveries therewith in the fields of nuclear physics and cosmic radiation.

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Cosmic rays | Electron‑positron pair production | Nuclear reaction | Particle detector

1947

Sir Edward Victor Appleton for his investigations of the physics of the upper atmosphere especially for the discovery of the so-called Appleton layer.

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Ionosphere | Radio‑wave propagation

1946

Percy Williams Bridgman (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology contributor; Empirical method, Hypothesis, Physical theory, Postulate, Science, Theorem) for the invention of an apparatus to produce extremely high pressures, and for the discoveries he made therewith in the field of high pressure physics.

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High‑pressure chemistry | High‑pressure mineral synthesis | High‑pressure physics | High‑pressure processes

1945

Wolfgang Pauli for the discovery of the Exclusion Principle, also called the Pauli Principle.

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Atomic structure and spectra | Exclusion principle | Fermi‑Dirac statistics | Nonrelativistic quantum theory | Quantum mechanics | Quantum theory of matter

1944

Isidor Isaac Rabi for his resonance method for recording the magnetic properties of atomic nuclei.

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Ferromagnetism | Free‑electron theory of metals | Molecular beams | Nuclear moments

1943

Otto Stern for his contribution to the development of the molecular ray method and his discovery of the magnetic moment of the proton.

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Electron spin | Molecular beams | Nonrelativistic quantum theory | Nuclear moments | Proton | Quantum mechanics

1942

The prize money was allocated to the Main fund (1/3) and to the Special Fund (2/3) of this prize section.

1941

The prize money was allocated to the Main fund (1/3) and to the Special Fund (2/3) of this prize section.

1940

The prize money was allocated to the Main fund (1/3) and to the Special Fund (2/3) of this prize section.

1939

Ernest Orlando Lawrence for the invention and development of the cyclotron and for results obtained with it, especially with regard to artificial radioactive elements.

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Nuclear reaction | Particle accelerator | Radioisotope

1938

Enrico Fermi for his demonstrations of the existence of new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation, and for his related discovery of nuclear reactions brought about by slow neutrons.

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Isotope | Neutron | Neutron spectrometry | Nuclear reaction

1937

Awarded jointly to: Clinton Joseph Davisson and Sir George Paget Thomson for their experimental discovery of the diffraction of electrons by crystals.

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Electron diffraction

1936

Divided equally between:

Victor Franz Hess for his discovery of cosmic radiation and

Carl David Anderson for his discovery of the positron.

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Cosmic rays | Positron

1935

Sir James Chadwick for the discovery of the neutron.

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Neutron

1934

The prize money was allocated to the Main Fund (1/3) and to the Special Fund (2/3) of this prize section.

1933

Awarded jointly to: Erwin Schrödinger and Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory.

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Nonrelativistic quantum theory | Quantum mechanics | Relativistic quantum theory | Schrödinger's wave equation | Schrödinger's wave equation

1932

Werner Heisenberg for the creation of quantum mechanics, the application of which has, inter alia, led to the discovery of the allotropic forms of hydrogen.

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Hydrogen | Nonrelativistic quantum theory | Quantum mechanics | Uncertainty principle

1931

The prize money was allocated ot the Main Fund (1/3) and to the Spcieal Fund (2/3) of this prize section.

1930

Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the effect named after him.

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Raman effect

1929

Prince Louis-Victor De Broglie for his discovery of the wave nature of electrons.

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Atom optics | De Broglie wavelength | Nonrelativistic quantum theory | Quantum mechanics | Wave mechanics

1928

Sir Owen Willans Richardson for his work on the thermionic phenomenon and especially for the discovery of the law named after him.

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Thermionic emission

1927

Divided equally between:

Arthur Holly Compton for his discovery of the effect named after him and

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Compton effect

Charles Thomson Rees Wilson for his method of making the paths of electrically charged particles visible by condensation of vapour.

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Particle detector

1926

Jean Baptiste Perrin for his work on the discontinuous structure of matter, and especially for his discovery of sedimentation equilibrium.

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Avogadro's number | Brownian movement | Molecular weight

1925

Awarded jointly to: James Franck and Gustav Hertz for their discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom.

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Atomic structure and spectra | Ionization | Scattering experiments (atoms and molecules)

1924

Karl Manne Georg Siegbahn for his discoveries and research in the field of X-ray spectroscopy.

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Atomic structure and spectra | X‑ray spectrometry

1923

Robert Andrews Millikan for his work on the elementary charge of electricity and on the photoelectric effect.

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Avogadro's number | Electron | Fundamental constants | Navier‑Stokes equation | Photoemission

1922

Niels Bohr for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them.

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Action | Atomic structure and spectra | Correspondence principle | Energy level (quantum mechanics) | Quantum mechanics

1921

1920

Charles Edouard Guillaume in recognition of the service he has rendered to precision measurements in Physics by his discovery of anomalies in nickel steel alloys.

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Alloy | Physical measurement

1919

Johannes Stark for his discovery of the Doppler effect in canal rays and the splitting of spectral lines in electric fields.

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Doppler effect | Stark effect

1918

Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck in recognition of the services he rendered to the advancement of Physics by his discovery of energy quanta.

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Avogadro's number | Heat radiation | Planck's constant | Quantum mechanics

1917

Charles Glover Barkla for his discovery of the characteristic Röntgen radiation of the elements.

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Atomic number | Atomic structure and spectra | X‑rays

1916

The prize money for 1916 was allocated to the Special Fund of this prize section.

1915

Awarded jointly to: Sir William Henry Bragg and Sir William Lawrence Bragg for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays.

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Crystallography | X‑ray crystallography | X‑ray diffraction | X‑ray powder methods | X‑rays

1914

Max Von Lane for his discovery of the diffraction ofX-rays by crystals.

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Crystallography | X‑ray crystallography | X‑ray diffraction | X‑ray powder methods | X‑rays

1913

Heike Kamerlingh-Onnes for his investigations on the properties of matter at low temperatures which led, inter alia, to the production of liquid helium.

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Liquid helium | Low‑temperature physics | Superconductivity

1912

Nils Gustaf Daléen for his invention of automatic regulators for use in conjunction with gas accumulators for illuminating lighthouses and buoys.

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Lighthouse

1911

Wilhelm Wien for his discoveries regarding the laws governing the radiation of heat.

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Heat radiation

1910

Johannes Diderik van der Waals for his work on the equation of state for gases and liquids.

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Critical phenomena | Gas | Intermolecular forces | Van der Waals equation

1909

Awarded jointly to: Guglielmo Marconi and Karl Ferdinand Braun in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy.

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Radio | Radio‑wave propagation | Telegraphy

1908

Gabriel Lippmann for his method of reproducing colors photographically based on the phenomenon of interference.

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Photography

1907

Albert Abraham Michelson for his optical precision instruments and the spectroscopic and metrological investigations carried out with their aid.

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Diffraction grating | Interferometry | Length | Long‑baseline optical interferometry | Physical measurement | Spectroscopy | Wavelength measurement | Wavelength measurement

1906

Sir Joseph John Thomson in recognition of the great merits of his theoretical and experimental investigations on the conduction of electricity by gases.

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Atomic structure and spectra | Cathode rays | Electrical conduction in gases | Electron

1905

Philipp Eduard Anton Lenard for his work on cathode rays.

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Cathode rays

1904

Lord John William Strutt Rayleigh for his investigations of the densities of the most important gases and for his discovery of argon in connection with these studies.

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Argon | Noble gases

1903

The prize was divided, one half being awarded to:

Antoine Henri Becquerel in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity

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Radioactivity | Uranium

the other half jointly to:

Pierre Curie and Marie Curie née Shlodowska, in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel.

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Polonium | Radioactivity | Radium

1902

Awarded jointly to: Hendrik Antoon Lorentz and Pieter Zeeman in recognition of the extraordinary service they rendered by their researches into the influence of magnetism upon radiation phenomena.

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Electron | Electron motion in vacuum | Free‑electron theory of metals | Galvanomagnetic effects | Hall effect | Maxwell's equations | Relativistic electrodynamics | Zeeman effect

1901

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by the discovery of the remarkable rays subsequently named after him.

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X‑ray tube | X‑rays

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