The discovery of the Planck constant enabled him to define a new universal set of physical units (such as the Planck length and the Planck mass), all based on fundamental physical constants, upon …

Max Planck, German theoretical physicist who originated quantum theory, one of the fundamental theories of modern physics, for which he won the 1918 Nobel Prize for Physics.

Planck’s work on the quantum theory, as it came to be known, was published in the Annalen der Physik. His work is summarized in two books Thermodynamik (Thermodynamics) (1897) and Theorie der …

Max Planck changed physics and our understanding of the world forever when he discovered that hot objects do not radiate a smooth, continuous range of energies as had been assumed in classical …

Jul 16, 2025 · Planck’s constant is one of the most important numbers in all of physics. It is, essentially, the ultimate guide to the quantum world.

Planck himself said that, despite having invented quantum theory, he did not understand it himself at first. Nevertheless, he received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1918 for his achievement.

Planck was an extremely successful physicist, receiving the Nobel Prize in 1919, but his personal life was marked by tragedy.