Historical Figure
Max Planck
1858–1947
German theoretical physicist (1858–1947)
Talk to Max Planck
Have a conversation with this historical figure through AI
Biography
Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck was a German theoretical physicist. He won the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the services he rendered to the advancement of physics by his discovery of energy quanta".
In Their Own Words (5)
But science sets out confidently on the endeavor finally to know the thing in itself, and even though we realize that this ideal goal can never be completely reached, still we struggle on towards it untiringly. And we know that at every step of the way each effort will be richly rewarded.
Causation and free will: the problem stated, p. 139f. , 1932
It is not the possession of truth, but the success which attends the seeking after it, that enriches the seeker and brings happiness to him.
Is the external world real?, p. 83 , 1932
Farsighted theologians are now working to mine the eternal metal from the teachings of Jesus and to forge it for all time.
From Planck to Study (2 December 1913), (Autog. I/383, SPK); as quoted in The Dilemmas of an Upright Man : Max Planck As Spokesman for German Science (1986) by J. L. Heilbron, p. 67 , 1986
New scientific ideas never spring from a communal body, however organized, but rather from the head of an individually inspired researcher who struggles with his problems in lonely thought and unites all his thought on one single point which is his whole world for the moment.
Address on the 25th anniversary of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft (January 1936), as quoted in Surviving the Swastika : Scientific Research in Nazi Germany (1993) , 1993
I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.
The Observer (London, England) (25 January 1931), p. 17 , 1931
Timeline
The story of Max Planck, told in moments.
Completed his doctoral thesis at 21. His adviser Philipp von Jolly told him physics was essentially complete and there was nothing left to discover. Planck went ahead anyway.
Presented his quantum theory to the German Physical Society. Energy comes in discrete packets, not continuous waves. He didn't like the idea himself. Called it "an act of desperation."
Won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of energy quanta. Einstein had already used Planck's work to explain the photoelectric effect. The quantum revolution was underway.
His son Erwin was arrested by the Gestapo for involvement in the July 20 plot to assassinate Hitler. Planck wrote to Hitler personally, begging for clemency. Erwin was executed in January 1945.
More from the Victorian Era
Explore what happened on the days that shaped Max Planck's life. Today In History connects historical figures with the events, births, and deaths that defined their era. Browse all historical figures or explore today's events.