Physicists from Russia

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Russians Physicists of all time. This list of famous Russians Physicists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Russians Physicists.

1. #1

   

   Gustav Kirchhoff

   1824 - 1887

   HPI 79.2285 langs

   Gustav Kirchhoff is most famous for his law of thermodynamics which states that the sum of the heat absorbed by a system and the work done...Read moreShow less

   Gustav Kirchhoff is most famous for his law of thermodynamics which states that the sum of the heat absorbed by a system and the work done on the system is equal to the heat emitted by the system.

2. #2

   

   Wilhelm Wien

   1864 - 1928

   HPI 78.9090 langs

   Wilhelm Wien is most famous for his law, which says that the wavelength of a blackbody radiation is inversely proportional to its...Read moreShow less

   Wilhelm Wien is most famous for his law, which says that the wavelength of a blackbody radiation is inversely proportional to its temperature.

3. #3

   

   Andrei Sakharov

   1921 - 1989

   HPI 78.1195 langs

   Andrei Sakharov was a Russian nuclear physicist and human rights activist who is most famous for his work in nuclear weapons research and...Read moreShow less

   Andrei Sakharov was a Russian nuclear physicist and human rights activist who is most famous for his work in nuclear weapons research and development. He was a key figure in the development of the Soviet Union's hydrogen bomb and became an outspoken critic of the Soviet Union's nuclear arms race with the United States.

4. #4

   

   Mikhail Lomonosov

   1711 - 1765

   HPI 75.6988 langs

   Mikhail Lomonosov is most famous for his contributions to the field of chemistry. He was the first to discover that air is composed of two...Read moreShow less

   Mikhail Lomonosov is most famous for his contributions to the field of chemistry. He was the first to discover that air is composed of two different gases, oxygen and nitrogen.

5. #5

   

   Arnold Sommerfeld

   1868 - 1951

   HPI 75.1165 langs

   Arnold Sommerfeld is most famous for his contributions to quantum mechanics, as well as his work on atomic spectra.

6. #6

   

   Pavel Cherenkov

   1904 - 1990

   HPI 74.1877 langs

   Pavel Cherenkov is most famous for his discovery of the phenomenon of Cherenkov radiation.

7. #7

   

   Ilya Frank

   1908 - 1990

   HPI 72.0370 langs

   Ilya Frank is most famous for his work in the field of electroencephalography (EEG) and neurophysiology. He was a student of Hans Berger and...Read moreShow less

   Ilya Frank is most famous for his work in the field of electroencephalography (EEG) and neurophysiology. He was a student of Hans Berger and he built upon his mentor's work, which led to the invention of the EEG.

8. #8

   

   Igor Tamm

   1895 - 1971

   HPI 71.9776 langs

   Igor Tamm was a Russian physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1958 with Pavel Cherenkov and Ilya Frank for their work on...Read moreShow less

   Igor Tamm was a Russian physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1958 with Pavel Cherenkov and Ilya Frank for their work on the Cherenkov Effect.

9. #9

   

   Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov

   1928 - 2017

   HPI 71.7378 langs

   Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov is most famous for his work in the field of condensed matter physics. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics...Read moreShow less

   Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov is most famous for his work in the field of condensed matter physics. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2003 for his work in developing a theory of superconductivity.

10. #10

    

    Pyotr Kapitsa

    1894 - 1984

    HPI 71.4082 langs

    Pyotr Kapitsa was a Russian physicist and Nobel Prize winner. He is most famous for his work in low-temperature physics.