Max Born

Nobel Prize physicist, Tait Professor of Natural Philosophy.

Background

Max Born was born and raised in Wroclaw, Poland (which was then Breslau, Germany).

He had to leave his chair in Physics at the University of Gottingen in 1933 as a result of laws enacted by the Nazi Party.

After working briefly at the University of Cambridge and Bangalore, Born accepted the position of Tait Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh in 1936, where he promoted the teaching of mathematical physics while continuing his research into the behaviour of electrons.

He chose to stay at Edinburgh until his retirement in 1952.

He died in Goettingen on 5 January 1970.

Born's research

Born's research focussed on the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a number of notable physicists.

Nobel Prize

Born was regularly nominated for a Nobel Prize from 1928 onwards (he was first nominated by Einstein).

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1954 for "fundamental research in quantum mechanics".

The Nobel Prize in Physics 1954

The plaque

Born's plaque is at the west entrance to the James Clerk Maxwell Building at the King's Buildings campus.