January 4 in Physics History: Birthdays, Deaths & Discoveries

Explore January 4 in physics history with all birthdays, deaths & discoveries by physicists and all major physics events happened on this day!

January 4 in Physics History

Physics history will help you to develop a better understanding of the physics world!

birthdays & deaths

Explore all birthdays & deaths of physicists occurred on this day with their short biography!

physics Events

Know all important discoveries made by physicists & events happened on this day with complete information!

January 4 in Physics History - Births – Physicists born on January 4

Wilhelm Beer (4 Jan 1797 - 27 Mar 1850)

He was a banker and an amateur astronomer. He worked with Johann Heinrich von Mädler and produced the first large-scale map of the moon. It took four years to obtain a map that provided the details of the Moon’s surface.

Brian D. Josephson (Born - 4 Jan 1940)

He discovered the Josephson Effect when he was a graduate student and 22 years old. Josephson junction is the flow of electric current as electron pairs, called Cooper pairs, between two semiconducting materials that are separated by an extremely thin insulator. For this discovery, he was awarded a share of the 1973 Noble prize for Physics.

January 4 in Physics History - Deaths – Physicists died on January 4

Erwin Schrödinger (12 Aug 1887 - 4 Jan 1961)

He was an Austrian theoretical physicist who contributed a lot in the field of quantum physics. He modified the earlier Bohr model of the atom to accommodate the wave nature of the electrons. He provided an explanation for discrete lines in the spectrum of excited atoms. He realized the possible orbits of an electron would be confined to those in which its matter waves close in an exact number of wavelengths. This brought about a revolution in the studies of quantum mechanics. Schrödinger shared the Noble prize for physics with P.A.M Dirac in 1933.

Rudolph Leo B. Minkowski (28 May 1895 - 4 Jan 1976)

He was a German astronomer who investigated novae and supernovae. He studied Spectra, the distributions and motion of planets. Along with Walter Baare, he divided supernovae into type I and II based on spectral characteristics. He was awarded the Bruce Medal in 1961 for services to astronomy.

January 4 in Physics History - Events – Physics Events on January 4

Sputnik

Sputnik I satellite was a Russian satellite. It was the first man-made object to orbit the Earth. In 1958, after 92 days in space, it fell back into the Earth’s atmosphere. It was made to transmit a radio signal picked up around the world, and to measure temperatures.

Martian Rover - Spirit

A robot Rover Spirit landed on Mars in 2004. It was sent to analyze the planet’s rocks and to look for evidence of water. The only picture of our Earth taken from another planet was taken by Spirit. It survived dust-storms and outlasted its expected useful life.

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