Niels Bohr was a Danish scientist who won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1922 for his work in regards to understanding the structure of atoms. Bohr introduced the theory that electrons travel in an orbital path around the atom's nucleus. He also theorized that light could have properties of both a wave and a particle at the same time.

Niels Bohr

Niels Bohr was a professor at the University of Copenhagen and because of his research others developed theories about quantum mechanics. Niels Bohr became director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics in 1920.

In 1943, Niels Bohr escaped being arrested by the German police and fled to Sweden. He then traveled to the United States where he worked at the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico on the Manhattan Project. At the Los Alamos Laboratory Niels Bohr was known as Nicholas Baker for reasons of security.

Niels Bohr was a consultant on the project and believed the technology should be shared between nations within the international scientific community in order to speed up the results. Bohr tried to convince Winston Churchill of this idea and Churchill opposed it.

After World War II, Niels Bohr returned to Copenhagen and advocated for the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Bohr was born on October 7, 1885 in Copenhagen, Denmark and died on November 18, 1962. The element of Bohrium was named in his honor.

Rumor Has It …

Rumor has it that Niels Bohr used to give his little brother atomic wedgies as a youth. The atomic wedgie ceremonies were thought to be the springboard for Bohr's later work in atomic energy and complex theoretical frameworks.

A totally falsified, unsubstantiated and nearly defamatory account reports that one of Niels Bohr's favorite pastimes was to shave his dog and teach it to walk backwards.

Written by Kevin Lepton