# Nobel Prize in Physics laureates from 1940 to 1959

Every Nobel Prize in Physics laureate between 1940 and 1959, with the year and the Nobel Foundation's official citation. Which discovery do you think mattered most?

- 37 votes · 27 items
- Jun 29, 2020 · cientifica_bucaramanga
- https://even.best/en/l/1211/nobel-prize-in-physics-laureates-from-1940-to-1959

## Top 27

1. **Otto Stern** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — 1943. For his contribution to the development of the molecular ray method and his discovery of the magnetic moment of the proton.
2. **Isidor Isaac Rabi** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — 1944. For his resonance method for recording the magnetic properties of atomic nuclei.
3. **Frits Zernike** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — 1953. For his demonstration of the phase contrast method, especially for his invention of the phase contrast microscope.
4. **Percy Williams Bridgman** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 1946. For the invention of an apparatus to produce extremely high pressures, and for the discoveries he made therewith in the field of high pressure physics.
5. **Hideki Yukawa** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 1949. For his prediction of the existence of mesons on the basis of theoretical work on nuclear forces.
6. **Cecil Frank Powell** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 1950. For his development of the photographic method of studying nuclear processes and his discoveries regarding mesons made with this method.
7. **Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 1951. For their pioneer work on the transmutation of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles.
8. **Willis Eugene Lamb** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 1955. For his discoveries concerning the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum.
9. **Walter Houser Brattain** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 1956. For their researches on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect.
10. **Wolfgang Pauli** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1945. For the discovery of the Exclusion Principle, also called the Pauli Principle.
11. **Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1948. For his development of the Wilson cloud chamber method, and his discoveries therewith in the fields of nuclear physics and cosmic radiation.
12. **Edward Mills Purcell** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1952. For their development of new methods for nuclear magnetic precision measurements and discoveries in connection therewith.
13. **Max Born** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1954. For his fundamental research in quantum mechanics, especially for his statistical interpretation of the wavefunction.
14. **Walther Bothe** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1954. For the coincidence method and his discoveries made therewith.
15. **Igor Yevgenyevich Tamm** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1958. For the discovery and the interpretation of the Cherenkov effect.
16. **John Douglas Cockcroft** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — 1951. For their pioneer work on the transmutation of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles.
17. **Felix Bloch** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1952. For their development of new methods for nuclear magnetic precision measurements and discoveries in connection therewith.
18. **Polykarp Kusch** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1955. For his precision determination of the magnetic moment of the electron.
19. **John Bardeen** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1956. For their researches on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect.
20. **Chen Ning Yang** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1957. For their penetrating investigation of the so-called parity laws which has led to important discoveries regarding the elementary particles.
21. **Tsung-Dao Lee** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1957. For their penetrating investigation of the so-called parity laws which has led to important discoveries regarding the elementary particles.
22. **Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1958. For the discovery and the interpretation of the Cherenkov effect.
23. **Il'ja Mikhailovich Frank** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1958. For the discovery and the interpretation of the Cherenkov effect.
24. **Owen Chamberlain** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1959. For their discovery of the antiproton.
25. **Edward Victor Appleton** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — 1947. For his investigations of the physics of the upper atmosphere especially for the discovery of the so-called Appleton layer.
26. **William Bradford Shockley** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — 1956. For their researches on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect.
27. **Emilio Gino Segrè** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — 1959. For their discovery of the antiproton.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.