Robert B. Laughlin

American physicist · United States · On the map · Scientists · Born 1950 · age 76

Robert Betts Laughlin is an American physicist. He is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Stanford University.

Robert B. Laughlin is read about 58 times a day, in 66 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 400 days, one point a day.

Something wrong?

Compare Claim

A life in dates

2013“If you think, as a Western person, that you are not affected by religious traditions, you are sadly mistaken. (22:30 in video)”In their wordsA Different Universe - Bob Laughlin (SETI Talks) - YouTube, 2013Read the whole statement

“What we live in, unfortunately, is a time when we are infected by what I call quantum field theory idolatry. (39:30 in video)”In their wordsA Different Universe - Bob Laughlin (SETI Talks) - YouTube, 2013Read the whole statement

“Newton would have been laughed out of the country if Kepler hadn't done the measurement. ... The facts speak for themselves. ...”In their wordsA Different Universe - Bob Laughlin (SETI Talks) - YouTube, 2013Read the whole statement

1998“Oklahoma is laid back and rather beautiful, with rolling brown hills not unlike the ones in California. The Pershing missiles, on the other hand, were not beautiful.”In their wordsOn his experiences in the military during his training on how to fire Pershing missiles.Read the whole statement

“The world is full of intelligent, well-meaning people who, for one reason or another, did not attend university but are nonetheless well-read and educated.”In their wordsFull text onlineRead the whole statement

Benjamin Franklin Medal in PhysicsAwardNobel Prize in PhysicsAward1986Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter PrizeAward1984Ernest Orlando Lawrence AwardAward1950“Bell Labs had been a kind of holy place of solid state physics since the 1950's when it was built up by Shockley after the invention of the transistor.”In their wordsFull text onlineRead the whole statement

Born1 November 1950

Also in Deutsch

Media & music

Photos 2

Laughlin (right) in the White House together with other 1998 US Nobel Prize Winners and the President Bill Clinton

In their own words 4

Robert B. Laughlin

4 statements, newest first

When a thing gets very, very small, you can't tell the difference between a solid and a liquid. (16:30 in video)
2013 · A Different Universe - Bob Laughlin (SETI Talks) - YouTube, 2013, Own words
Science is about measurement, dammit - it's not about ideas. (55:20 in video)
2013 · A Different Universe - Bob Laughlin (SETI Talks) - YouTube, 2013, Own words
Real understanding of a thing comes from taking it apart oneself, not reading about it in a book or hearing about it in a classroom.
1998 · Full text online, Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Nobel Prize in Physics1998

Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics1998

Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize1986

Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award1984

Onsager Medal

Fellow of the American Physical Society

About this person

Along with Horst L. Störmer of Columbia University and Daniel C. Tsui of Princeton University, he was awarded a share of the 1998 Nobel Prize in physics for their explanation of the fractional quantum Hall effect.

Country

United States