Max Born was born on December 11, 1882, in Wroclaw, which was then part of the German Empire and is now in Poland. He studied at the University of Breslau (now Wroclaw) and later at the University of Heidelberg. He earned his doctorate in 1907 under the supervision of the renowned physicist Max Planck.
Born made significant contributions to the field of theoretical physics. In the early 1920s, along with Werner Heisenberg, he developed matrix mechanics, one of the first formulations of quantum mechanics. This work was crucial in understanding the behavior of subatomic particles. In addition to his work in quantum mechanics, Born also made significant contributions to solid-state physics, particularly in the understanding of crystal structures.
When the Nazis came to power in Germany, he faced increasing persecution on account of his Jewish ancestry and was removed from his professorship at the University of Göttingen. He left Germany in 1933 and took a position at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He continued to work in physics with his assistants E. Walter Kellermann and Klaus Fuchs at that university until 1952. Later, he retred to Bad Pyrmont, West Germany where he attempted to help restore German physics.
Max Born was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1954 for his fundamental research in quantum mechanics, especially for his statistical interpretation of the wave function. Born authored several books, including the influential book “Atomic Physics,” which he co-authored with Werner Heisenberg. Expressing the importance of creativity in science, he asserted:
Science is not formal logic; it needs the free play of the mind in as great a degree as any other creative art. It is true that this is a gift which can hardly be taught, but its growth can be encouraged in those who already possess it.
Max Born passed away on January 5, 1970, in Göttingen, Germany. His work laid the foundation for the development of quantum mechanics, and his contributions have had a lasting impact on the field of theoretical physics.
