Paul Dirac
8 August 1902 – 20 October 1984
Paul Dirac was an English theoretical physicist and one of the founders of quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics. He formulated the Dirac equation describing the behavior of the electron, predicted the existence of antimatter, and shared the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics with Erwin Schrodinger.
Lived at the same time
Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Paul Dirac.
- Louis de Broglie (1892–1987) Overlapped 82 years →
- Pyotr Kapitsa (1894–1984) Overlapped 82 years →
- Aaron Copland (1900–1990) Overlapped 82 years →
- Albert Szent-Györgyi (1893–1986) Overlapped 82 years →
- Ansel Adams (1902–1984) Overlapped 82 years →
- Georgia O'Keeffe (1887–1986) Overlapped 82 years →
Life events
Born to a Swiss-born father and English mother in Bristol.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgEarned a degree in electrical engineering, later also studying mathematics.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgReceived his doctorate at St John's College under Ralph Fowler with a thesis on quantum mechanics.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgPublished a relativistic wave equation for the electron that unified quantum mechanics with special relativity.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgInterpreted his theory to predict the existence of the positron, the electron's antiparticle, later confirmed experimentally.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgTook up the chair once held by Isaac Newton, a position he held for over three decades.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAwarded the 1933 Nobel Prize jointly with Erwin Schrodinger for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgMarried Margit Wigner, sister of physicist Eugene Wigner.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgMoved to the United States and became a professor at Florida State University in Tallahassee.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgDied in Tallahassee at the age of 82.
Source: en.wikipedia.org