For the album by Devin Townsend see Physicist (album). Not to be confused with Physician a person who practices medicine. Isaac Newton was a revolutionary figure in the development of modern physics as an exact science. Albert Einstein developed the theory of general relativity.

A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made (particle physics) to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole (cosmology). Contents 1 Etymology 2 Education 3 Employment 4 Honors and awards 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links Etymology

The term "Physicist" was coined by English philosopher priest and historian of science William Whewell in 1840 to denote a cultivator of physics.1 Education Archimedes (c.287212 BC) widely regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity

Most material a student encounters in the undergraduate physics curriculum is based on discoveries and insights of a century or more in the past. Alhazen's intromission theory of light was formulated in the 11th century; Newton's laws of motion and Newton's law of universal gravitation were formulated in the 17th century; Maxwell's equations 19th century; and quantum mechanics early 20th century. The undergraduate physics curriculum generally includes the following range of courses: chemistry classical physics kinematics astronomy and astrophysics physics laboratory electricity and magnetism thermodynamics optics modern physics quantum physics nuclear physics particle physics and solid state physics. Undergraduate physics students must also take extensive mathematics courses (calculus differential equations advanced calculus) and computer science and programming. Undergraduate physics students often perform research with faculty members.

Many positions especially in research require a doctoral degree. At the Master's level and higher students tend to specialize in a particular field. Fields of specialization include experimental and theoretical astrophysics atomic physics molecular physics biophysics chemical physics condensed matter physics cosmology geophysics material science nuclear physics optics particle physics and plasma physics. Post-doctoral experience may be required for certain positions. Employment

The three major employers of career physicists are academic institutions government laboratories and private industries with the largest employer being the last.2 Many people who are trained as physicists however apply their skills to other activities in particular to engineering computing and finance often quite successfully. Some physicists take up additional careers where their knowledge of physics can be combined with further training in other disciplines such as patent law in industry or private practice. In the United States a majority of those in the private sections having a physics degree actually work outside the fields of physics astronomy and engineering altogether.3

Nobel laureate Sir Joseph Rotblat has suggested that physicists going into employment in scientific research should honour a Hippocratic Oath for Scientists. Honors and awards

The highest honor awarded to physicists is the Nobel Prize in Physics awarded since 1901 by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. v d eNobel Laureates in Physics 19011925

Rntgen (1901)  Lorentz / Zeeman (1902)  Becquerel / P. Curie / M. Curie (1903)  Rayleigh (1904)  Lenard (1905)  Thomson (1906)  Michelson (1907)  Lippmann (1908)  Marconi / Braun (1909)  van der Waals (1910)  Wien (1911)  Daln (1912)  Kamerlingh Onnes (1913)  Laue (1914)  W. L. Bragg / W. H. Bragg (1915)  Barkla (1917)  Planck (1918)  Stark (1919)  Guillaume (1920)  Einstein (1921)  N. Bohr (1922)  Millikan (1923)  M. Siegbahn (1924)  Franck / Hertz (1925) 19261950

Perrin (1926)  Compton / C. Wilson (1927)  O. Richardson (1928)  De Broglie (1929)  Raman (1930)  Heisenberg (1932)  Schrdinger / Dirac (1933)  Chadwick (1935)  Hess / C. D. Anderson (1936)  Davisson / Thomson (1937)  Fermi (1938)  Lawrence (1939)  Stern (1943)  Rabi (1944)  Pauli (1945)  Bridgman (1946)  Appleton (1947)  Blackett (1948)  Yukawa (1949)  Powell (1950) 19511975 Cockcroft / Walton (1951)  Bloch / Purcell (1952)  Zernike (1953)  Born / Bothe (1954)  Lamb / Kusch (1955)  Shockley / Bardeen / Brattain (1956)  Yang / T. D. Lee (1957)  Cherenkov / Frank / Tamm (1958)  Segr / Chamberlain (1959)  Glaser (1960)  Hofstadter / Mssbauer (1961)  Landau (1962)  Wigner / Goeppert-Mayer / Jensen (1963)  Townes / Basov / Prokhorov (1964)  Tomonaga / Schwinger / Feynman (1965)  Kastler (1966)  Bethe (1967)  Alvarez (1968)  Gell-Mann (1969)  Alfvn / Nel (1970)  Gabor (1971)  Bardeen / Cooper / Schrieffer (1972)  Esaki / Giaever / Josephson (1973)  Ryle / Hewish (1974)  A. Bohr / Mottelson / Rainwater (1975) 19762000 Richter / Ting (1976)  P. W. Anderson / Mott / Van Vleck (1977)  Kapitsa / Penzias / R. Wilson (1978)  Glashow / Salam / Weinberg (1979)  Cronin / Fitch (1980)  Bloembergen / Schawlow / K. Siegbahn (1981)  K. Wilson (1982)  Chandrasekhar / Fowler (1983)  Rubbia / van der Meer (1984)  von Klitzing (1985)  Ruska / Binnig / Rohrer (1986)  Bednorz / Mller (1987)  Lederman / Schwartz / Steinberger (1988)  Ramsey / Dehmelt / Paul (1989)  Friedman / Kendall / R. Taylor (1990)  de Gennes (1991)  Charpak (1992)  Hulse / J. Taylor (1993)  Brockhouse / Shull (1994)  Perl / Reines (1995)  D. Lee / Osheroff / R. Richardson (1996)  Chu / Cohen-Tannoudji / Phillips (1997)  Laughlin / Strmer / Tsui (1998)  't Hooft / Veltman (1999)  Alferov / Kroemer / Kilby (2000) 2001present Cornell / Ketterle / Wieman (2001)  Davis / Koshiba / Giacconi (2002)  Abrikosov / Ginzburg / Leggett (2003)  Gross / Politzer / Wilczek (2004)  Glauber / Hall / Hnsch (2005)  Mather / Smoot (2006)  Fert / Grnberg (2007)  Nambu / Kobayashi / Maskawa (2008)  Kao / Boyle / Smith (2009)  Geim / Novoselov (2010)  Book:Nobel Prize in Physics   Category:Nobel laureates in Physics   Portal:Physics   Nobel Prize in Physics See also Physics American Institute of Physics Engineering physics History of physics Institute of Physics (UK & Ireland) List of physicists Nobel Prize in physics Professional physicist References http://www.etymonline.com/index.phptermphysics AIP Statistical Research Center. "Initial Employment Report Fig. 7". Archived from the original on January 13 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070113215906/http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/highlite/emp/figure7.htm. Retrieved August 21 2006.  Also relevant is: Institute of Physics. "Education Statistics Graph 4.11". http://www.iop.org/OurActivities/SciencePolicy/Statistics/Education%20Statistics/page2680.html. Retrieved August 21 2006. dead link AIP Statistical Research Center. "Initial Employment Report Table 1". http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/highlite/emp/table1.htm. Retrieved August 21 2006.  Further reading Whitten Barbara L.; Foster Suzanne R.; Duncombe Margaret L. (2003). "What works for women in physics". Physics Today 56 (9): 46. Bibcode 2003PhT....56i..46W. doi:10.1063/1.1620834. http://ptonline.aip.org/journals/doc/PHTOAD-ft/vol56/iss9/461.shtml.  Kirby Kate; Czujko Roman; Mulvey Patrick (2001). "The Physics Job Market: From Bear to Bull in a Decade". Physics Today 54 (4): 36. Bibcode 2001PhT....54d..36K. doi:10.1063/1.1372112. http://ptonline.aip.org/journals/doc/PHTOAD-ft/vol54/iss4/361.shtml.  Hermanowicz Joseph C. (1998). The Stars Are Not Enough: Scientists--Their Passions and Professions. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226327679.  Hermanowicz Joseph C. (2009). Lives in Science: How Institutions Affect Academic Careers. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226327617.  External links Look up physicist in Wiktionary the free dictionary. Education and employment statistics from the American Institute of Physics Occupational Outlook Handbook Physicists and Astronomers; US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics PhysicistTv