author
Max Planck
1858–1947
A pioneer of quantum theory, this German physicist changed how scientists understand light, energy, and the structure of matter. His work opened the door to modern physics and earned him the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics.
1 Audiobook
The Origin and Development of the Quantum Theory
by Max Planck
About the author
Born in Kiel, Germany, on April 23, 1858, Max Planck became one of the most influential physicists of the modern era. He is best known for introducing the idea that energy is emitted in tiny discrete packets, or quanta, a breakthrough that launched quantum theory and reshaped science in the 20th century.
Planck spent much of his career in Berlin, where he taught and carried out the research that made him famous. His work on blackbody radiation led to the constant now known as Planck's constant, one of the basic numbers of physics. For this achievement, he received the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics.
He lived through some of Germany's most turbulent years and remained a major figure in scientific life until his death in Göttingen on October 4, 1947. Today, his name lives on not only in physics itself but also in the Max Planck Society, one of the world's leading research organizations.