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| Year | Article | Country* | Achievement |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | Röntgen, Wilhelm Conrad | Germany | discovery of X rays |
| 1902 | Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon | The Netherlands | investigation of the influence of magnetism on radiation |
| Zeeman, Pieter | The Netherlands | investigation of the influence of magnetism on radiation | |
| 1903 | Becquerel, Henri | France | discovery of spontaneous radioactivity |
| Curie, Marie | France | investigations of radiation phenomena discovered by Becquerel | |
| Curie, Pierre | France | investigations of radiation phenomena discovered by Becquerel | |
| 1904 | Rayleigh (of Terling Place), John William Strutt, 3rd Baron | U.K. | discovery of argon |
| 1905 | Lenard, Philipp | Germany | research on cathode rays |
| 1906 | Thomson, Sir J.J. | U.K. | researches into electrical conductivity of gases |
| 1907 | Michelson, A.A. | U.S. | spectroscopic and metrological investigations |
| 1908 | Lippmann, Gabriel | France | photographic reproduction of colours |
| 1909 | Braun, Ferdinand | Germany | development of wireless telegraphy |
| Marconi, Guglielmo | Italy | development of wireless telegraphy | |
| 1910 | Waals, Johannes Diederik van der | The Netherlands | research concerning the equation of state of gases and liquids |
| 1911 | Wien, Wilhelm | Germany | discoveries regarding laws governing heat radiation |
| 1912 | Dalén, Nils | Sweden | invention of automatic regulators for lighting coastal beacons and light buoys |
| 1913 | Kamerlingh Onnes, Heike | The Netherlands | investigation into the properties of matter at low temperatures; production of liquid helium |
| 1914 | Laue, Max von | Germany | discovery of diffraction of X rays by crystals |
| 1915 | Bragg, Sir Lawrence | U.K. | analysis of crystal structure by means of X rays |
| Bragg, Sir William | U.K. | analysis of crystal structure by means of X rays | |
| 1917 | Barkla, Charles Glover | U.K. | discovery of characteristic X-radiation of elements |
| 1918 | Planck, Max | Germany | discovery of the elemental quanta |
| 1919 | Stark, Johannes | Germany | discovery of Doppler effect in positive ion rays and division of spectral lines in electric field |
| 1920 | Guillaume, Charles Édouard | Switzerland | discovery of anomalies in alloys |
| 1921 | Einstein, Albert | Switzerland | work in theoretical physics, specifically for his discovery of the photoelectric effect: the emission of electrons from matter upon the absorption of electromagnetic radiation is frequency-dependent |
| 1922 | Bohr, Niels | Denmark | investigation of atomic structure and radiation |
| 1923 | Millikan, Robert Andrews | U.S. | work on elementary electric charge and the photoelectric effect |
| 1924 | Siegbahn, Karl Manne Georg | Sweden | work in X-ray spectroscopy |
| 1925 | Franck, James | Germany | discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom |
| Hertz, Gustav | Germany | discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom | |
| 1926 | Perrin, Jean | France | work on discontinuous structure of matter |
| 1927 | Compton, Arthur Holly | U.S. | discovery of wavelength change in diffused X rays |
| Wilson, C.T.R. | U.K. | method of making visible the paths of electrically charged particles | |
| 1928 | Richardson, Sir Owen Willans | U.K. | work on electron emission by hot metals |
| 1929 | Broglie, Louis-Victor, 7e duc (duke) de | France | discovery of the wave nature of electrons |
| 1930 | Raman, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata | India | work on light diffusion; discovery of Raman effect |
| 1932 | Heisenberg, Werner | Germany | creation of quantum mechanics |
| 1933 | Dirac, P.A.M. | U.K. | introduction of wave equations in quantum mechanics |
| Schrödinger, Erwin | Austria | ||
| 1935 | Chadwick, Sir James | U.K. | discovery of the neutron |
| 1936 | Anderson, Carl David | U.S. | discovery of the positron |
| Hess, Victor Francis | Austria | discovery of cosmic radiation | |
| 1937 | Davisson, Clinton Joseph | U.S. | experimental demonstration of the interference phenomenon in crystals irradiated by electrons |
| Thomson, Sir George Paget | U.K. | ||
| 1938 | Fermi, Enrico | Italy | disclosure of artificial radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation |
| 1939 | Lawrence, Ernest Orlando | U.S. | invention of the cyclotron |
| 1943 | Stern, Otto | U.S. | discovery of the magnetic moment of the proton |
| 1944 | Rabi, Isidor Isaac | U.S. | resonance method for registration of various properties of atomic nuclei |
| 1945 | Pauli, Wolfgang | Austria | discovery of the exclusion principle of electrons |
| 1946 | Bridgman, Percy Williams | U.S. | discoveries in the domain of high-pressure physics |
| 1947 | Appleton, Sir Edward Victor | U.K. | discovery of Appleton layer in upper atmosphere |
| 1948 | Blackett, Patrick M.S. | U.K. | discoveries in the domain of nuclear physics and cosmic radiation |
| 1949 | Yukawa Hideki | Japan | prediction of the existence of mesons |
| 1950 | Powell, Cecil Frank | U.K. | photographic method of studying nuclear processes; discoveries concerning mesons |
| 1951 | Cockcroft, Sir John Douglas | U.K. | work on transmutation of atomic nuclei by accelerated particles |
| Walton, Ernest Thomas Sinton | Ireland | work on transmutation of atomic nuclei by accelerated particles | |
| 1952 | Bloch, Felix | U.S. | discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance in solids |
| Purcell, E.M. | U.S. | discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance in solids | |
| 1953 | Zernike, Frits | The Netherlands | method of phase-contrast microscopy |
| 1954 | Born, Max | U.K. | statistical studies of atomic wave functions |
| Bothe, Walther | West Germany | invention of coincidence method | |
| 1955 | Kusch, Polykarp | U.S. | measurement of magnetic moment of electron |
| Lamb, Willis Eugene, Jr. | U.S. | discoveries in the hydrogen spectrum | |
| 1956 | Bardeen, John | U.S. | investigations on semiconductors and invention of the transistor |
| Brattain, Walter H. | U.S. | ||
| Shockley, William B. | U.S. | ||
| 1957 | Lee, Tsung-Dao | China | discovery of violations of the principle of parity |
| Yang, Chen Ning | China | ||
| 1958 | Cherenkov, Pavel Alekseyevich | U.S.S.R. | discovery and interpretation of the Cherenkov effect |
| Frank, Ilya Mikhaylovich | U.S.S.R. | ||
| Tamm, Igor Yevgenyevich | U.S.S.R. | ||
| 1959 | Chamberlain, Owen | U.S. | confirmation of the existence of the antiproton |
| Segrè, Emilio | U.S. | ||
| 1960 | Glaser, Donald A. | U.S. | development of the bubble chamber |
| 1961 | Hofstadter, Robert | U.S. | determination of shape and size of atomic nucleons |
| Mössbauer, Rudolf Ludwig | West Germany | discovery of the Mössbauer effect, which refers to the refers to the resonant and recoil-free emission and absorption of gamma rays by atoms bound in a solid form | |
| 1962 | Landau, Lev Davidovich | U.S.S.R. | contributions to the understanding of condensed states of matter |
| 1963 | Jensen, J. Hans D. | West Germany | development of shell model theory of the structure of the atomic nuclei |
| Mayer, Maria Goeppert | U.S. | ||
| Wigner, Eugene Paul | U.S. | principles governing interaction of protons and neutrons in the nucleus | |
| 1964 | Basov, Nikolay Gennadiyevich | U.S.S.R. | work in quantum electronics leading to construction of instruments based on maser-laser principles |
| Prokhorov, Aleksandr Mikhaylovich | U.S.S.R. | ||
| Townes, Charles Hard | U.S. | ||
| 1965 | Feynman, Richard P. | U.S. | basic principles of quantum electrodynamics |
| Schwinger, Julian Seymour | U.S. | ||
| Tomonaga Shin'ichiro | Japan | ||
| 1966 | Kastler, Alfred | France | discovery of optical methods for studying Hertzian resonances in atoms |
| 1967 | Bethe, Hans Albrecht | U.S. | discoveries concerning the energy production of stars |
| 1968 | Alvarez, Luis W. | U.S. | work with elementary particles, discovery of resonance states |
| 1969 | Gell-Mann, Murray | U.S. | classification of elementary particles and their interactions |
| 1970 | Alfvén, Hannes | Sweden | work in magnetohydrodynamics and in antiferromagnetism and ferrimagnetism |
| Néel, Louis-Eugène-Félix | France | ||
| 1971 | Gabor, Dennis | U.K. | invention of holography |
| 1972 | Bardeen, John | U.S. | development of the theory of superconductivity |
| Cooper, Leon N. | U.S. | ||
| Schrieffer, John Robert | U.S. | ||
| 1973 | Esaki, Leo | Japan | tunneling in semiconductors and superconductors |
| Giaever, Ivar | U.S. | ||
| Josephson, Brian D. | U.K. | ||
| 1974 | Hewish, Antony | U.K. | work in radio astronomy |
| Ryle, Sir Martin | U.K. | ||
| 1975 | Bohr, Aage N. | Denmark | work on the atomic nucleus that paved the way for nuclear fusion |
| Mottelson, Ben R. | Denmark | ||
| Rainwater, James | U.S. | work on the atomic nucleus that paved the way for nuclear fusion | |
| 1976 | Richter, Burton | U.S. | discovery of new class of elementary particles (psi, or J) |
| Ting, Samuel C.C. | U.S. | ||
| 1977 | Anderson, Philip W. | U.S. | contributions to understanding the behaviour of electrons in magnetic, noncrystalline solids |
| Mott, Sir Nevill F. | U.K. | ||
| Van Vleck, John H. | U.S. | ||
| 1978 | Kapitsa, Pyotr Leonidovich | U.S.S.R. | invention and application of helium liquefier |
| Penzias, Arno | U.S. | discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation, providing support for the big-bang theory | |
| Wilson, Robert Woodrow | U.S. | ||
| 1979 | Glashow, Sheldon Lee | U.S. | unification of electromagnetism and the weak interactions of subatomic particles |
| Salam, Abdus | Pakistan | unification of electromagnetism and the weak interactions of subatomic particles | |
| Weinberg, Steven | U.S. | ||
| 1980 | Cronin, James Watson | U.S. | demonstration of simultaneous violation of both charge-conjugation and parity-inversion symmetries |
| Fitch, Val Logsdon | U.S. | demonstration of simultaneous violation of both charge-conjugation and parity-inversion symmetries | |
| 1981 | Bloembergen, Nicolaas | U.S. | applications of lasers in spectroscopy |
| Schawlow, Arthur Leonard | U.S. | ||
| Siegbahn, Kai Manne Börje | Sweden | electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis | |
| 1982 | Wilson, Kenneth Geddes | U.S. | analysis of continuous phase transitions |
| 1983 | Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan | U.S. | contributions to understanding the evolution and devolution of stars |
| Fowler, William A. | U.S. | ||
| 1984 | Meer, Simon van der | The Netherlands | discovery of subatomic particles W and Z, which supports the electroweak theory |
| Rubbia, Carlo | Italy | ||
| 1985 | Klitzing, Klaus von | West Germany | discovery of the quantized Hall effect, permitting exact measurements of electrical resistance |
| 1986 | Binnig, Gerd | West Germany | development of special electron microscopes |
| Rohrer, Heinrich | Switzerland | ||
| Ruska, Ernst | West Germany | ||
| 1987 | Bednorz, J. Georg | West Germany | discovery of new superconducting materials |
| Müller, Karl Alex | Switzerland | ||
| 1988 | Lederman, Leon Max | U.S. | research in subatomic particles |
| Schwartz, Melvin | U.S. | ||
| Steinberger, Jack | U.S. | ||
| 1989 | Dehmelt, Hans Georg | U.S. | development of methods to isolate atoms and subatomic particles for study |
| Paul, Wolfgang | West Germany | development of methods to isolate atoms and subatomic particles for study | |
| Ramsey, Norman Foster | U.S. | development of the atomic clock | |
| 1990 | Friedman, Jerome Isaac | U.S. | discovery of atomic quarks |
| Kendall, Henry Way | U.S. | ||
| Taylor, Richard E. | Canada | ||
| 1991 | Gennes, Pierre-Gilles de | France | discovery of general rules for behaviour of molecules |
| 1992 | Charpak, Georges | France | inventor of detector that traces subatomic particles |
| 1993 | Hulse, Russell Alan | U.S. | identifying binary pulsars |
| Taylor, Joseph H., Jr. | U.S. | ||
| 1994 | Brockhouse, Bertram N. | Canada | development of neutron-scattering techniques |
| Shull, Clifford G. | U.S. | ||
| 1995 | Perl, Martin Lewis | U.S. | discovery of tau subatomic particle |
| Reines, Frederick | U.S. | discovery of neutrino subatomic particle | |
| 1996 | Lee, David M. | U.S. | discovery of superfluidity in isotope helium-3 |
| Osheroff, Douglas D. | U.S. | ||
| Richardson, Robert C. | U.S. | ||
| 1997 | Chu, Steven | U.S. | process of trapping atoms with laser cooling |
| Cohen-Tannoudji, Claude | France | ||
| Phillips, William D. | U.S. | ||
| 1998 | Robert B. Laughlin | U.S. | or their discovery of a new form of quantum fluid with fractionally charged excitations |
| Horst L. Störmer | Germany | ||
| Daniel C. Tsui | U.S. | ||
| 1999 | Gerardus 't Hooft | Netherlands | for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions in physics |
| Martinus J.G. Veltman | Netherlands | ||
| 2000 | Zhores I. Alferov | Russia | for basic work on information and communication technology |
| Herbert Kroemer | Germany | for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and opto-electronics | |
| Jack S. Kilby | U.S. | for his part in the invention of the integrated circuit | |
| 2001 | Eric A. Cornell | U.S. | for the achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms, and for early fundamental studies of the properties of the condensates |
| Wolfgang Ketterle | Germany | ||
| Carl E. Wieman | U.S. | ||
| 2002 | Raymond Davis Jr | U.S. | for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, in particular for the detection of cosmic neutrinos |
| Masatoshi Koshiba | Japan | ||
| Riccardo Giacconi | U.S. | ||
| 2003 | Alexei A. Abrikosov | U.S./Russia | for pioneering contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids |
| Vitaly L. Ginzburg | Russia | ||
| Anthony J. Leggett | U.S./U.K. | ||
| 2004 | David J. Gross | U.S. | for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction |
| H. David Politzer | U.S. | ||
| Frank Wilczek | U.S. | ||
| 2005 | John L. Hall | U.S. | for their contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique |
| Theodor W. Hänsch | Germany | ||
| Roy J. Glauber | U.S. | for his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence |
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*Nationality given is the citizenship of recipient at the time award was made. Prizes may be withheld or not awarded in years when no worthy recipient can be found or when the world situation (e.g., World Wars I and II) prevents the gathering of information needed to reach a decision. |
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Copyright © 1997 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All Rights Reserved.Writing in blue added by E.Uva References: http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates
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