Profile of the Day: Max Born

Max Born

Today we celebrate the 135th birthday of German physicist and mathematician Max Born, who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. In 1954, Born won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the field.

Born was born on December 11, 1882 in Breslau in what was then a part of the German Empire (now Wroclaw, Poland). He was the son of Gustav Jacob Born, a prominent German histologist and medical author, and Margarethe Kauffmann. His father made several technical inventions and developed new methods in the field of microscopy and embryology.

In 1926, he devised the Born Rule, which would become one of the key principles of quantum mechanics. He was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physics “for his fundamental research in quantum mechanics, especially for his statistical interpretation of the wavefunction.”

Fun fact: Did you know that Born is the maternal grandfather of singer Olivia Newton-John?

Explore Max Born’s family tree on Geni and share how you’re related to the physicist.
 

View Max Born’s Geni Profile

Image: Wikimedia Commons