List of Nobel laureates in Physics by age

This is a list of Nobel laureates in Physics by age.

To allow for the differing amount of leap years within the life of each laureate, two measures of longevity are given. The first is the number of days lived by the laureate. Following that comes the number of whole years the laureate lived, and days past their last birthday. Where the person in question is still living, the longevity is calculated up to .

Overview

The median age for a person winning the Nobel Prize in Physics is 54 years and 5 months, which is how old Pavel Cherenkov was when he won the 1958 prize. The youngest person to win the Nobel Prize in Physics was William L. Bragg, who won the 1915 prize at the age of 25 years, 254 days. The oldest person to win the Nobel Prize in Physics was Raymond Davis, Jr., who won the 2002 prize at the age of 88 years, 57 days.

The Physics laureate who lived the longest after receiving the prize was Louis de Broglie. de Broglie died 57 years, 99 days after he received his prize, at the age of 94 years, 216 days. de Broglie's post-Nobel lifespan is also the longest of any Nobel laureate in any field. The next in line to tie this are Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang, who received the prize in 1957. Should Lee and Yang live to 19 March 2015, they would tie de Broglie's record. Lee's age on that date would be . Yang's age on that date would be .

The oldest living Physics laureate is Charles H. Townes (born 28 July 1915), at the age of . At only 30 days younger than Townes, the second oldest living Physics laureate is Norman F. Ramsey (born 27 August 1915), at the age of . The youngest living Physics laureate is Eric A. Cornell (born 19 December 1961), at the age of .

The longest lived Physics laureate was Hans Bethe, who lived to the age of 98 years, 247 days. If oldest living Physics laureate Charles H. Townes lives to 1 April 2014, he will tie that record. The shortest lived Physics laureate was Pierre Curie, who died at the age of 46 years, 339 days when he was struck by a horse-drawn vehicle. The second shortest lived Physics laureate was Enrico Fermi, who died of stomach cancer at the age of 53 years, 60 days.

List of Nobel laureates in Physics by age

#

Laureate

Date of birth

Date of
award

Age upon
receiving award

Days lived
after receiving
award

Date of death

Lifespan

1

Rontgen, WilhelmWilhelm Röntgen

1845-03-27

56-258

07,732 days

1923-02-10

days ()

2

Lorentz, HendrikHendrik Lorentz

1853-07-18

49-145

09,187 days

1928-02-04

days ()

3

Zeeman, PieterPieter Zeeman

1865-05-25

37-199

14,913 days

1943-10-09

days ()

4

Becquerel, HenriHenri Becquerel

1852-12-15

50-360

01,720 days

1908-08-25

days ()

5

Curie, MarieMarie Curie

1867-11-07

36-033

11,164 days

1934-07-04

days ()

6

Curie, PierrePierre Curie

1859-05-15

44-209

00,861 days

1906-04-19

days ()

7

Strutt, JohnJohn Strutt

1842-11-12

62-028

05,315 days

1919-06-30

days ()

8

Lenard, PhilippPhilipp Lenard

1862-06-07

43-186

15,136 days

1947-05-20

days ()

9

Thomson, J. J.J. J. Thomson

1856-12-18

49-357

12,317 days

1940-08-30

days ()

10

Michelson, AlbertAlbert A. Michelson

1852-12-19

54-356

08,551 days

1931-05-09

days ()

11

Lippmann, GabrielGabriel Lippmann

1845-08-16

63-116

04,598 days

1921-07-13

days ()

12

Braun, KarlKarl F. Braun

1850-06-06

59-187

03,053 days

1918-04-20

days ()

13

Marconi, GuglielmoGuglielmo Marconi

1874-04-25

35-229

10,084 days

1937-07-20

days ()

14

van der Waals, JohannesJohannes van der Waals

1837-11-23

73-017

04,471 days

1923-03-08

days ()

15

Wien, WilhelmWilhelm Wien

1864-01-13

47-331

06,108 days

1928-08-30

days ()

16

Dalen, GustafGustaf Dalén

1869-11-30

43-010

09,130 days

1937-12-09

days ()

17

Onnes, HeikeHeike K. Onnes

1853-09-21

60-080

04,456 days

1926-02-21

days ()

18

von Laue, MaxMax von Laue

1879-10-09

35-062

16,572 days

1960-04-24

days ()

19

Bragg, William H.William H. Bragg

1862-07-02

53-161

09,587 days

1942-03-10

days ()

20

Bragg, William L.William L. Bragg

1890-03-31

25-254

20,292 days

1971-07-01

days ()

21

Barkla, CharlesCharles G. Barkla

1877-06-27

40-166

09,814 days

1944-10-23

days ()

22

Planck, MaxMax Planck

1858-04-23

60-231

10,525 days

1947-10-04

days ()

23

Stark, JohannesJohannes Stark

1874-04-15

45-239

13,708 days

1957-06-21

days ()

24

Guillaume, CharlesCharles É. Guillaume

1861-02-15

59-299

06,363 days

1938-05-13

days ()

25

Einstein, AlbertAlbert Einstein

1879-03-14

42-271

12,182 days

1955-04-18

days ()

26

Bohr, NielsNiels Bohr

1885-10-07

37-064

14,588 days

1962-11-18

days ()

27

Millikan, RobertRobert A. Millikan

1868-03-22

55-263

10,967 days

1953-12-19

days ()

28

Siegbahn, ManneManne Siegbahn

1886-12-03

38-007

19,648 days

1978-09-26

days ()

29

Franck, JamesJames Franck

1882-08-26

43-106

14,042 days

1964-05-21

days ()

30

Hertz, GustavGustav L. Hertz

1887-07-22

38-141

18,221 days

1975-10-30

days ()

31

Perrin, JeanJean B. Perrin

1870-09-30

56-071

05,607 days

1942-04-17

days ()

32

Compton, ArthurArthur Compton

1892-09-10

35-091

12,514 days

1962-03-15

days ()

33

Wilson, CharlesCharles T. R. Wilson

1869-02-14

58-299

11,663 days

1959-11-15

days ()

34

Richardson, OwenOwen W. Richardson

1879-04-26

49-228

11,024 days

1959-02-15

days ()

35

de Broglie, LouisLouis de Broglie

1892-08-15

37-117

20,918 days

1987-03-19

days ()

36

Raman, C. V.C. V. Raman

1888-11-07

42-033

14,591 days

1970-11-21

days ()

37

Heisenberg, WernerWerner Heisenberg

1901-12-05

31-005

15,758 days

1976-02-01

days ()

38

Dirac, PaulPaul Dirac

1902-08-08

31-124

18,577 days

1984-10-20

days ()

39

Schrodinger, ErwinErwin Schrödinger

1887-08-12

46-120

09,887 days

1961-01-04

days ()

40

Chadwick, JamesJames Chadwick

1891-10-20

44-051

14,106 days

1974-07-24

days ()

41

Anderson, CarlCarl D. Anderson

1905-09-03

31-098

19,755 days

1991-01-11

days ()

42

Hess, VictorVictor F. Hess

1883-06-24

53-169

10,234 days

1964-12-17

days ()

43

Davisson, ClintonClinton Davisson

1881-10-22

56-049

07,358 days

1958-02-01

days ()

44

Thomson, GeorgeGeorge P. Thomson

1892-05-03

45-221

13,788 days

1975-09-10

days ()

45

Fermi, EnricoEnrico Fermi

1901-09-29

37-072

05,832 days

1954-11-28

days ()

46

Lawrence, ErnestErnest Lawrence

1901-08-08

38-124

06,835 days

1958-08-27

days ()

47

Stern, OttoOtto Stern

1888-02-17

55-296

09,382 days

1969-08-17

days ()

48

Rabi, IsidorIsidor I. Rabi

1898-07-29

46-134

15,737 days

1988-01-11

days ()

49

Pauli, WolfgangWolfgang Pauli

1900-04-25

45-229

04,753 days

1958-12-15

days ()

50

Bridgman, PercyPercy W. Bridgman

1882-04-21

64-233

05,367 days

1961-08-20

days ()

51

Appleton, EdwardEdward V. Appleton

1892-09-06

55-095

06,342 days

1965-04-21

days ()

52

Blackett, PatrickPatrick Blackett

1897-11-18

51-022

09,346 days

1974-07-13

days ()

53

Yukawa, HidekiHideki Yukawa

1907-01-23

42-321

11,595 days

1981-09-08

days ()

54

Powell, CecilCecil F. Powell

1903-12-05

47-005

06,817 days

1969-08-09

days ()

55

Cockroft, JohnJohn Cockroft

1897-05-27

54-197

05,761 days

1967-09-18

days ()

56

Walton, ErnestErnest Walton

1903-10-06

48-065

15,903 days

1995-06-25

days ()

57

Bloch, FelixFelix Bloch

1905-10-23

47-048

11,231 days

1983-09-10

days ()

58

Purcell, EdwardEdward M. Purcell

1912-08-30

40-102

16,158 days

1997-03-07

days ()

59

Zernike, FritsFrits Zernike

1888-07-16

65-147

04,473 days

1966-03-10

days ()

60

Born, MaxMax Born

1882-12-11

71-364

05,505 days

1970-01-05

days ()

61

Bothe, WaltherWalther Bothe

1891-01-08

63-336

00,791 days

1957-02-08

days ()

62

Kusch, PolykarpPolykarp Kusch

1911-01-26

44-318

13,615 days

1993-03-20

days ()

63

Lamb, WillisWillis Lamb

1913-07-12

42-151

19,150 days

2008-05-15

days ()

64

Bardeen, JohnJohn Bardeen

1908-05-23

48-201

12,469 days

1991-01-30

days ()

65

Brattain, WalterWalter H. Brattain

1902-02-10

54-304

11,264 days

1987-10-13

days ()

66

Shockley, WilliamWilliam Shockley

1910-02-13

46-301

11,933 days

1989-08-12

days ()

67

Lee, Tsung-DaoTsung-Dao Lee

1926-11-24

31-016

days

--

days ()

68

Yang, Chen-NingChen-Ning Yang

1922-10-01

35-070

days

--

days ()

69

Cherenkov, PavelPavel Cherenkov

1904-07-15

54-148

11,350 days

1990-01-06

days ()

70

Frank, IlyaIlya Frank

1908-10-23

50-048

11,517 days

1990-06-22

days ()

71

Tamm, IgorIgor Tamm

1895-07-08

63-155

04,506 days

1971-04-12

days ()

72

Chamberlain, OwenOwen Chamberlain

1920-07-10

39-153

16,882 days

2006-02-28

days ()

73

Segre, EmilioEmilio G. Segrè

1905-02-01

54-312

10,726 days

1989-04-22

days ()

74

Glaser, DonaldDonald A. Glaser

1926-09-21

34-080

days

--

days ()

75

Hofstadter, RobertRobert Hofstadter

1915-02-05

46-308

10,569 days

1990-11-17

days ()

76

Mossbauer, RudolfRudolf Mössbauer

1929-01-31

32-313

days

--

days ()

77

Landau, LevLev Landau

1908-01-22

54-322

01,939 days

1968-04-01

days ()

78

Goeppert-Mayer, MariaMaria Goeppert-Mayer

1906-06-28

57-165

02,994 days

1972-02-20

days ()

79

Jensen, HansJ. Hans D. Jensen

1907-06-25

56-168

03,351 days

1973-02-11

days ()

80

Wigner, EugeneEugene Wigner

1902-11-17

61-023

11,345 days

1995-01-01

days ()

81

Basov, NikolayNikolay Basov

1922-12-14

41-362

13,352 days

2001-07-01

days ()

82

Prokhorov, AlexanderAlexander Prokhorov

1916-07-11

48-152

13,543 days

2002-01-08

days ()

83

Townes, CharlesCharles H. Townes

1915-07-28

49-135

days

--

days ()

84

Feynman, RichardRichard Feynman

1918-05-11

47-213

08,102 days

1988-02-15

days ()

85

Schwinger, JulianJulian Schwinger

1918-02-12

47-301

10,445 days

1994-07-16

days ()

86

Tomonaga, Sin-ItiroSin-Itiro Tomonaga

1906-03-31

59-254

04,958 days

1979-07-08

days ()

87

Kastler, AlfredAlfred Kastler

1902-05-03

64-221

06,237 days

1984-01-07

days ()

88

Bethe, HansHans Bethe

1906-07-02

61-161

13,601 days

2005-03-06

days ()

89

Alvarez, LuisLuis W. Alvarez

1911-06-13

57-180

07,205 days

1988-09-01

days ()

90

Gell-Mann, MurrayMurray Gell-Mann

1929-09-15

40-086

days

--

days ()

91

Alfven, HannesHannes Alfvén

1908-05-30

62-194

08,879 days

1995-04-02

days ()

92

Neel, LouisLouis Néel

1904-11-22

66-018

10,935 days

2000-11-17

days ()

93

Gabor, DennisDennis Gabor

1900-06-05

71-188

02,618 days

1979-02-09

days ()

94

Bardeen, JohnJohn Bardeen

1908-05-23

64-201

06,625 days

1991-01-30

days ()

95

Cooper, LeonLeon Cooper

1930-02-28

42-286

days

--

days ()

96

Schrieffer, JohnJohn R. Schrieffer

1931-05-31

41-193

days

--

days ()

97

Esaki, LeoLeo Esaki

1925-03-12

48-273

days

--

days ()

98

Giaever, IvarIvar Giaever

1929-04-05

44-249

days

--

days ()

99

Josephson, BrianBrian D. Josephson

1940-01-04

33-340

days

--

days ()

100

Hewish, AntonyAntony Hewish

1924-05-11

50-213

days

--

days ()

101

Ryle, MartinMartin Ryle

1918-09-27

56-074

03,596 days

1984-10-14

days ()

102

Bohr, AageAage Bohr

1922-06-19

53-174

12,326 days

2009-09-08

days ()

103

Mottelson, BenBen R. Mottelson

1926-07-09

49-154

days

--

days ()

104

Rainwater, JamesJames Rainwater

1917-12-09

58-001

03,825 days

1986-05-31

days ()

105

Richter, BurtonBurton Richter

1931-03-22

45-263

days

--

days ()

106

Ting, SamuelSamuel Ting

1936-01-27

40-318

days

--

days ()

107

Anderson, PhilipPhilip W. Anderson

1923-12-13

53-362

days

--

days ()

108

Mott, NevillNevill F. Mott

1905-09-30

72-071

06,816 days

1996-08-08

days ()

109

van Vleck, JohnJohn van Vleck

1899-03-13

78-272

01,052 days

1980-10-27

days ()

110

Kapitsa, PyotrPyotr Kapitsa

1894-07-09

84-154

01,946 days

1984-04-08

days ()

111

Penzias, ArnoArno A. Penzias

1933-04-26

45-228

days

--

days ()

112

Wilson, RobertRobert W. Wilson

1936-01-10

42-334

days

--

days ()

113

Glashow, SheldonSheldon L. Glashow

1932-12-05

47-005

days

--

days ()

114

Salam, AbdusAbdus Salam

1926-01-29

53-315

06,191 days

1996-11-21

days ()

115

Weinberg, StevenSteven Weinberg

1933-05-03

46-221

days

--

days ()

116

Cronin, JamesJames Cronin

1931-09-29

49-072

days

--

days ()

117

Fitch, ValVal L. Fitch

1923-03-10

57-275

days

--

days ()

118

Bleombergen, NicolaasNicolaas Bloembergen

1920-03-11

61-274

days

--

days ()

119

Schawlow, ArthurArthur L. Schawlow

1921-05-05

60-219

06,348 days

1999-04-28

days ()

120

Siegbahn, KaiKai Siegbahn

1918-04-20

63-234

09,353 days

2007-07-20

days ()

121

Wilson, KennethKenneth G. Wilson

1936-06-08

46-185

0 days

--

days ()

122

Chandrasekhar, SubrahmanyanS. Chandrasekhar

1910-10-19

73-052

04,272 days

1995-08-21

days ()

123

Fowler, WilliamWilliam A. Fowler

1911-08-09

72-123

04,112 days

1995-03-14

days ()

124

Rubbia, CarloCarlo Rubbia

1934-03-31

50-254

0 days

--

days ()

125

van der Meer, SimonSimon van der Meer

1925-11-24

59-016

0 days

--

days ()

126

von Klitzing, KlausKlaus von Klitzing

1943-06-28

42-165

0 days

--

days ()

127

Binnig, GerdGerd Binnig

1947-07-20

39-143

0 days

--

days ()

128

Rohrer, HeinrichHeinrich Rohrer

1933-06-06

53-187

0 days

--

days ()

129

Ruska, ErnstErnst Ruska

1906-12-25

79-350

00,534 days

1988-05-27

days ()

130

Bednorz, JohannesJohannes G. Bednorz

1950-05-16

37-208

0 days

--

days ()

131

Muller, KarlKarl A. Müller

1927-04-20

60-234

0 days

--

days ()

132

Lederman, LeonLeon M. Lederman

1922-07-15

66-148

0 days

--

days ()

133

Schwartz, MelvinMelvin Schwartz

1932-11-02

56-038

06,470 days

2006-08-28

days ()

134

Steinberger, JackJack Steinberger

1921-05-25

67-199

0 days

--

days ()

135

Dehmelt, HansHans G. Dehmelt

1922-09-09

67-092

0 days

--

days ()

136

Paul, WolfgangWolfgang Paul

1913-08-10

76-122

01,458 days

1993-12-07

days ()

137

Ramsey, NormanNorman F. Ramsey

1915-08-27

74-105

0 days

--

days ()

138

Friedman, JeromeJerome I. Friedman

1930-03-28

60-257

0 days

--

days ()

139

Kendall, HenryHenry W. Kendall

1926-12-09

64-001

02,989 days

1999-02-15

days ()

140

Taylor, RichardRichard E. Taylor

1929-11-02

61-038

0 days

--

days ()

141

de Gennes, Pierre-GillesPierre-Gilles de Gennes

1932-10-24

59-047

05,638 days

2007-05-18

days ()

142

Charpak, GeorgesGeorges Charpak

1924-08-01

68-131

0 days

--

days ()

143

Hulse, RussellRussell A. Hulse

1950-11-28

43-012

0 days

--

days ()

144

Taylor, JosephJoseph H. Taylor

1941-03-29

52-256

0 days

--

days ()

145

Brockhouse, BertramBertram Brockhouse

1918-07-15

76-148

03,229 days

2003-10-13

days ()

146

Shull, CliffordClifford Shull

1915-09-23

79-078

02,303 days

2001-03-31

days ()

147

Perl, MartinMartin L. Perl

1927-06-24

68-169

0 days

--

days ()

148

Reines, FrederickFrederick Reines

1918-03-16

77-269

00,990 days

1998-08-26

days ()

149

Lee, DavidDavid M. Lee

1931-01-20

65-325

0 days

--

days ()

150

Osheroff, DouglasDouglas D. Osheroff

1945-08-01

45-131

0 days

--

days ()

151

Richardson, RobertRobert C. Richardson

1937-06-26

59-167

0 days

--

days ()

152

Chu, StevenSteven Chu

1948-02-28

49-285

0 days

--

days ()

153

Cohen-Tannoudji, ClaudeClaude Cohen-Tannoudji

1933-04-01

64-253

0 days

--

days ()

154

Phillips, WilliamWilliam D. Phillips

1948-11-05

49-035

0 days

--

days ()

155

Laughlin, RobertRobert B. Laughlin

1950-11-01

48-039

0 days

--

days ()

156

Stormer, HorstHorst L. Störmer

1949-04-06

49-248

0 days

--

days ()

157

Tsui, DanielDaniel C. Tsui

1939-02-28

59-285

0 days

--

days ()

158

t Hooft, GerardusGerardus 't Hooft

1946-07-05

53-158

0 days

--

days ()

159

Veltman, MartinusMartinus Veltman

1931-06-27

68-166

0 days

--

days ()

160

Alferov, ZhoresZhores Alferov

1930-03-15

70-270

0 days

--

days ()

161

Kilby, JackJack Kilby

1923-11-08

77-032

01,653 days

2005-06-20

days ()

162

Kroemer, HerbertHerbert Kroemer

1928-08-25

72-107

0 days

--

days ()

163

Cornell, EricEric A. Cornell

1961-12-19

39-356

0 days

--

days ()

164

Ketterle, WolfgangWolfgang Ketterle

1957-10-21

44-050

0 days

--

days ()

165

Wieman, CarlCarl Wieman

1951-03-26

50-259

0 days

--

days ()

166

Davis, RaymondRaymond Davis, Jr.

1914-10-14

88-057

01,268 days

2006-05-31

days ()

167

Giacconi, RiccardoRiccardo Giacconi

1931-10-06

71-065

0 days

--

days ()

168

Koshiba, MasatoshiMasatoshi Koshiba

1926-09-19

76-082

0 days

--

days ()

169

Abrikosov, AlexeiAlexei A. Abrikosov

1928-06-25

75-168

0 days

--

days ()

170

Ginzburg, VitalyVitaly Ginzburg

1916-10-04

87-067

02,160 days

2009-11-08

days ()

171

Leggett, AnthonyAnthony J. Leggett

1938-03-26

65-259

0 days

--

days ()

172

Gross, DavidDavid Gross

1941-02-19

63-295

0 days

--

days ()

173

Politzer, HughHugh D. Politzer

1949-08-31

55-101

0 days

--

days ()

174

Wilczek, FrankFrank Wilczek

1951-05-15

53-209

0 days

--

days ()

175

Glauber, RoyRoy J. Glauber

1925-09-01

80-100

0 days

--

days ()

176

Hall, JohnJohn L. Hall

1934-08-21

71-111

0 days

--

days ()

177

Hansch, TheodorTheodor W. Hänsch

1941-10-30

64-041

0 days

--

days ()

178

Mather, JohnJohn C. Mather

1946-08-07

60-125

0 days

--

days ()

179

Smoot, GeorgeGeorge Smoot

1945-02-20

61-293

0 days

--

days ()

180

Fert, AlbertAlbert Fert

1938-03-07

69-278

00, days

--

days ()

181

Grunberg, PeterPeter Grünberg

1939-05-18

68-206

00, days

--

days ()

182

Kobayashi, MakotoMakoto Kobayashi

1944-04-07

64-247

00, days

--

days ()

183

Maskawa, ToshihideToshihide Maskawa

1940-02-07

68-307

00, days

--

days ()

184

Nambu, YoichiroYoichiro Nambu

1921-01-18

87-327

00, days

--

days ()

185

Boyle, WillardWillard Boyle

1924-08-19

85-113

00,00 days

--

days ()

186

Kao, CharlesCharles K. Kao

1933-11-04

76-036

00,00 days

--

days ()

187

Smith, GeorgeGeorge E. Smith

1930-05-10

79-214

00,00 days

--

days ()

#

Laureate

Date of birth

Date of
award

Age upon
receiving award

Days lived
after receiving
award

Date of death

Lifespan

Trivia

  • One person has won the Nobel Prize in Physics twice: John Bardeen first won it in 1956, and then again in 1972.
  • Births by century
    • 19th century: 1st, Johannes van der Waals; last, Dennis Gabor (55 total)
    • 20th century: 1st, Ernest Lawrence; most recent, Eric A. Cornell (131 total)
  • Deaths by century
    • 20th century: 1st, Pierre Curie; last, Louis Néel (95 total)
    • 21st century: 1st, Clifford Shull; most recent, Vitaly Ginzburg (14 total)