BOHR, NIELS

born Oct. 7, 1885, Copenhagen, Den. died Nov. 18, 1962, Copenhagen Bohr. in full Niels Henrik David Bohr Danish physicist who was the first to apply the quantum theory, which restricts the energy of a system to certain discrete values, to the problem of atomic and molecular structure. For this work he received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922. He developed the so-called Bohr theory of the atom and liquid model of the atomic nucleus. Additional reading Bohr's major works include The Theory of Spectra and Atomic Constitution, 2nd ed. (1924), Atomic Theory and the Description of Nature (1934, reprinted 1987), Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge (1959, reprinted as Essays, 1932-1957, on Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge, 1987), and Essays, 1958-1962, on Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge (1963, reprinted 1987). Bohr's published papers and a selection of unpublished material, including drafts, notes, and correspondence, are published in his Collected Works, ed. by L. Rosenfeld (1972 ).There is no definitive biography of Bohr, but S. Rozental (ed.), Niels Bohr: His Life and Work as Seen by His Friends and Colleagues (1967, reissued 1985; originally published in Danish, 1964), contains much biographical material. Popular biographies include Ruth Moore, Niels Bohr: The Man, His Science & the World They Changed (1966, reissued 1985, also published as Niels Bohr: The Man and the Scientist, 1967); and Niels Bldel, Harmony and Unity: The Life of Niels Bohr (1988; originally published in Danish, 1985). A more technical biography is Abraham Pais, Niels Bohr's Times: In Physics, Philosophy, and Polity (1991).Among the books discussing Bohr and his work are W. Pauli (ed.), Niels Bohr and the Development of Physics (1955, reissued 1962); Werner Heisenberg, Physics and Beyond: Encounters and Conversations (1971; originally published in German, 1969); Hendrik Casimir, Haphazard Reality: Half a Century of Science (1983); and A.P. French and P.J. Kennedy (eds.), Niels Bohr: A Centenary Volume (1985). Detailed historical studies of Bohr's work on atomic theory are John L. Heilbron and Thomas S. Kuhn, The Genesis of the Bohr Atom, Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences, 1:211290 (1969); and John Hendry, The Creation of Quantum Mechanics and the Bohr-Pauli Dialogue (1984). The institutional setting of Bohr's work is discussed in Peter Robertson, The Early Years: The Niels Bohr Institute, 1921-1930 (1979); and Finn Aaserud, Redirecting Science: Niels Bohr, Philanthropy, and the Rise of Nuclear Physics (1990). Bohr's philosophy of physics is explored in Gerald Holton, The Roots of Complementarity, Daedalus, 99B:101555 (1970); Henry J. Folse, The Philosophy of Niels Bohr: The Framework of Complementarity (1985); John Honner, The Description of Nature: Niels Bohr and the Philosophy of Quantum Physics (1987); Dugald Murdoch, Niels Bohr's Philosophy of Physics (1987); and Mara Beller, The Birth of Bohr's Complementarity: The Context and the Dialogs, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 23(1):147180 (1992).