Question

What famous scientist was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on theoretical physics?

Answer 1

1. Einstein’s “discovery” of quanta was more important than relativity

Planck essentially proved the discretized nature of electromagnetic radiation in 1900, with a model that assumed discrete packets of radiant energy to explain the black body radiation curve. 19th century classical physics could not do this, which indicated a serious flaw in basic theory. For this Planck won the 1918 Nobel prize in physics.

Einstein’s explanation of the photoelectric effect was the second major confirmation of Planck’s theory of quantized radiation.

Physicists overemphasize the importance of experiments compared to explaining well-known empirical results that cannot be explained by explained by existing theory.