Niels Bohr

Niels Bohr won the 1922 Physics prize for his atomic model, which introduced quantized electron orbits and explained hydrogen’s spectral lines with remarkable accuracy—predicting wavelengths to within 0.01% of experimental data. His principle of complementarity, proposing that particles exhibit both wave and particle properties, became a cornerstone of quantum mechanics, setting his work apart as cheaper than the typical rival model of the time. Bohr’s framework provided a concrete foundation that outperforms #4 Richard Feynman’s later path integrals in simplicity for introductory quantum theory, influencing over 90% of textbooks on atomic structure.