Max Planck

German theoretical physicist (1858–1947)

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Lived 1858–1947, aged 89Germany

Germany ScientistsScientist

Wikipedia
148 languages
Cross-language footprint
Rank in Germany
#23
Scientists
Era
1858–1947
Aged 89
Awards
19
recognised works

Summary

Updated 2026-08-03

He cracked open the atom not by smashing it but by solving a puzzle about glowing metal — and the answer, energy quanta, broke physics so thoroughly that the universe has never looked continuous since.

Biography

About

Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck was a German theoretical physicist born 23 April 1858. Working on the problem of blackbody radiation, he discovered that energy isn't infinitely divisible — it comes in discrete packets, quanta — a finding that earned him the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics and launched quantum theory. From that insight he derived the Planck constant, h, now foundational to all quantum mechanics, and used it to define a set of natural units expressed purely in physical constants. He later served twice as President of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, which after his death on 4 October 1947 w…

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In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Max Planck

Max Planck

said1932

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

Max Planck

said1932

Again and again the imaginary plan on which one attempts to build up that order breaks down and then we must try another.

— Epilogue, p. 215

Max Planck

said7 Oct 1931

I also knew the formula that expresses the energy distribution in the normal spectrum. A theoretical interpretation therefore had to be found at any cost, no matter how high.

— Letter to (October 7, 1931) in Archive for the History of Quantum Physics, Microfilm 66, 5, as cited in Thomas S. Kuhn, Black-Body Theory

Max Planck

said25 Jan 1931

I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness.

— The Observer (London, England) (25 January 1931), p. 17

Max Planck

said1931

We have no right to assume that any physical laws exist, or if they have existed up to now, that they will continue to exist in a similar manner in the future.

— The Universe in the Light of Modern Physics (1931)

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

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