Physicist · 1901 – 1976

Werner Heisenberg

If you're interested in Werner Heisenberg, these historical figures share a similar impact, discipline, philosophy, or era. Each recommendation explains why the connection exists.

Similar Impact & Significance

Portrait of Niels Bohr

Niels Bohr

90

Physicist · 1885 – 1962

Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist who created the first quantum model of the atom and became a leading architect of quantum mechanics through the Copenhagen interpretation.

  • Bohr model of the atom
  • Copenhagen interpretation

Why Bohr was Heisenberg's mentor and collaborator in shaping the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics.

Portrait of Erwin Schrödinger

Erwin Schrödinger

86

Physicist · 1887 – 1961

Erwin Schrödinger was an Austrian physicist who formulated the wave equation governing quantum systems and devised the famous Schrödinger's cat thought experiment.

  • Schrödinger equation
  • Wave mechanics

Why Schrödinger's wave mechanics was shown to be mathematically equivalent to Heisenberg's matrix mechanics.

Portrait of Max Planck

Max Planck

89

Physicist · 1858 – 1947

Max Planck was a German physicist who originated quantum theory by introducing the quantum of action, a discovery that launched modern physics and earned him the 1918 Nobel Prize.

  • Quantum theory
  • Planck's constant

Why Planck's quantum hypothesis opened the field that Heisenberg helped bring to completion.

Portrait of Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein

99

Physicist · 1879 – 1955

Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics, and won the 1921 Nobel Prize.

  • Theory of relativity
  • E=mc²

Why Einstein famously resisted the probabilistic quantum mechanics Heisenberg's uncertainty principle implied.

Portrait of Carl Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus

81

Naturalist · 1707 – 1778

Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish naturalist whose book Systema Naturae established the modern system for naming and classifying living things, earning him the title "father of taxonomy" and making him one of the most influential scientific authors in history.

  • Binomial nomenclature
  • Systema Naturae

Why Also a scientist · Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin

96

Biologist · 1809 – 1882

Charles Darwin was an English naturalist whose theory of evolution by natural selection became the unifying foundation of modern biology and transformed humanity's understanding of life.

  • Theory of evolution
  • Natural selection

Why Also a scientist · Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Dmitri Mendeleev

Dmitri Mendeleev

88

Chemist · 1834 – 1907

Dmitri Mendeleev was a Russian chemist who created the periodic table of the elements, one of the most important organizing principles in all of science.

  • Periodic table of elements
  • Periodic law

Why Also a scientist · Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon

82

Philosopher · 1561 – 1626

Francis Bacon was an English philosopher, statesman and writer who served as Lord Chancellor and, in works such as the Novum Organum and his Essays, founded the modern scientific method of reasoning from evidence and experiment.

  • Scientific method
  • Novum Organum

Why Also a scientist · Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Gregor Mendel

Gregor Mendel

84

Biologist · 1822 – 1884

Gregor Mendel was an Austrian friar and scientist whose experiments on pea plants revealed the basic laws of heredity, earning him recognition as the father of modern genetics.

  • Laws of inheritance
  • Father of genetics

Why Also a scientist · Comparable historical impact

Portrait of Louis Pasteur

Louis Pasteur

90

Chemist · 1822 – 1895

Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist whose work on germ theory, vaccination, and pasteurization revolutionized medicine and saved countless lives.

  • Germ theory of disease
  • Pasteurization

Why Also a scientist · Comparable historical impact

Same Field or Discipline

Portrait of Marie Curie

Marie Curie

92

Physicist · 1867 – 1934

Marie Curie was a Polish-French physicist and chemist who pioneered research on radioactivity and became the first person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences.

  • Radioactivity research
  • Discovery of polonium and radium

Why Also a physicist & scientist · Worked in physics

Portrait of Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla

90

Inventor · 1856 – 1943

Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor and electrical engineer whose pioneering work on alternating current and electromagnetism helped electrify the modern world.

  • Alternating current (AC)
  • The induction motor

Why Also a physicist & scientist · Worked in physics

Portrait of James Clerk Maxwell

James Clerk Maxwell

92

Physicist · 1831 – 1879

James Clerk Maxwell was a Scottish physicist whose equations unified electricity, magnetism and light into a single electromagnetic theory, one of the greatest achievements in the history of physics.

  • Maxwell's equations
  • Electromagnetic theory of light

Why Also a physicist & scientist · Worked in physics

Portrait of Michael Faraday

Michael Faraday

93

Physicist · 1791 – 1867

Michael Faraday was an English scientist whose discoveries in electromagnetism and electrochemistry, above all electromagnetic induction, laid the experimental foundation of the electrical age.

  • Electromagnetic induction
  • The electric motor and dynamo

Why Also a physicist & scientist · Worked in physics

Portrait of Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei

95

Astronomer · 1564 – 1642

Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, the "father of modern science", whose telescopic discoveries and championing of heliocentrism transformed our understanding of the cosmos.

  • Telescopic astronomy
  • Defending heliocentrism

Why Also a physicist & scientist · Worked in physics

Portrait of Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking

87

Physicist · 1942 – 2018

Stephen Hawking was a British theoretical physicist and cosmologist whose work on black holes and the origins of the universe, carried out despite a paralysing motor-neurone disease, made him the most famous scientist of his age.

  • Hawking radiation
  • Black hole physics

Why Also a physicist · Worked in physics

Portrait of Archimedes

Archimedes

94

Mathematician · 287 BC – 212 BC

Archimedes was an ancient Greek mathematician, physicist and inventor, widely regarded as the greatest mathematician of antiquity and a founder of mathematical physics and engineering.

  • Archimedes' principle
  • Calculating pi

Why Also a physicist · Worked in physics

Portrait of Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

90

Inventor · 1706 – 1790

Benjamin Franklin was an American polymath — a founding father, scientist, inventor, writer and diplomat — whose work on electricity and statesmanship made him one of the most admired figures of the 18th century.

  • Founding Father
  • Experiments on electricity

Why Also a scientist · Worked in physics

Portrait of Rosalind Franklin

Rosalind Franklin

85

Chemist · 1920 – 1958

Rosalind Franklin was an English chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose images of DNA were crucial to discovering its double-helix structure, a contribution long under-recognized.

  • X-ray image of DNA (Photo 51)
  • DNA structure research

Why Also a scientist · Active in the same era

Portrait of Alexander von Humboldt

Alexander von Humboldt

81

Naturalist · 1769 – 1859

Alexander von Humboldt was a Prussian naturalist and explorer whose pioneering expeditions and best-selling books — including the vast Cosmos — founded modern geography and ecology and made him one of the most famous scientists and authors of his age.

  • Cosmos
  • Scientific exploration of the Americas

Why Also a scientist · Active in the same era

Portrait of Carl Friedrich Gauss

Carl Friedrich Gauss

95

Mathematician · 1777 – 1855

Carl Friedrich Gauss was a German mathematician and physicist whose profound contributions to number theory, statistics, geometry, astronomy and magnetism earned him the title "Prince of Mathematicians."

  • Disquisitiones Arithmeticae
  • Gaussian distribution

Why Also a physicist · Worked in physics

Portrait of Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan

82

Astronomer · 1934 – 1996

Carl Sagan was an American astronomer and planetary scientist who became the world's most famous communicator of science, reaching millions through the television series Cosmos and best-selling books that made him a celebrated author as well as a researcher.

  • Cosmos
  • Science communication

Why Also a scientist · Active in the same era

Portrait of Leonhard Euler

Leonhard Euler

93

Mathematician · 1707 – 1783

Leonhard Euler was a Swiss mathematician and physicist, the most prolific mathematician in history, whose work shaped modern analysis, number theory, graph theory and mathematical notation.

  • Euler's number e
  • Euler's identity

Why Also a physicist · Worked in physics

Portrait of Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton

99

Physicist · 1643 – 1727

Isaac Newton was an English physicist and mathematician whose laws of motion and universal gravitation laid the foundation of classical mechanics and the Scientific Revolution.

  • Laws of motion
  • Universal gravitation

Why Also a physicist · Worked in physics