Max Planck

Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck was a German <a href="/facts/Theoretical_physics/Cs2Y12rQ">theoretical physicist</a> whose discovery of energy <a href="/facts/Quantum/4x5QTxGB">quanta</a> won him the <a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Physics/o6w1nCbr">Nobel Prize in Physics</a> in 1918.
Planck made many substantial contributions to theoretical physics, but his fame as a physicist rests primarily on his role as the originator of <a href="/facts/Quantum_mechanics/BRc3Mzgr">quantum theory</a> and one of the founders of <a href="/facts/Modern_physics/J9Kko1qU">modern physics</a>, which revolutionized understanding of <a href="/facts/Atom/69syB8dH">atomic</a> and <a href="/facts/Subatomic_particle/tMEzcTWQ">subatomic</a> processes. He is known for the <a href="/facts/Planck_constant/qGHAe3qq">Planck constant</a>, which is of foundational importance for quantum physics, and which he used to derive a set of <a href="/facts/Unit_of_measurement/pvTpWbmC">units</a>, today called <a href="/facts/Planck_units/xDU6KlDM">Planck units</a>, expressed only in terms of fundamental <a href="/facts/Physical_constant/uI2QvAHw">physical constants</a>.
Planck was twice president of the German scientific institution <a href="/facts/Kaiser_Wilhelm_Society/FeQcYSho">Kaiser Wilhelm Society</a>. In 1948, it was renamed the <a href="/facts/Max_Planck_Society/lVNb39aD">Max Planck Society</a> (Max-Planck-Gesellschaft) and nowadays includes 83 institutions representing a wide range of scientific directions.

Max Planck open-in-new

Max Planck