PHYSICISTS from Slovakia

Top 3

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Slovak Physicists of all time. This list of famous Slovak Physicists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Philipp Lenard (1862 - 1947)

With an HPI of 73.38, Philipp Lenard is the most famous Slovak Physicist.  His biography has been translated into 90 different languages on wikipedia.

Philipp Eduard Anton von Lenard (German: [ˈfɪlɪp ˈleːnaʁt] ; Hungarian: Lénárd Fülöp Eduárd Antal; 7 June 1862 – 20 May 1947) was a Hungarian-German physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1905 "for his work on cathode rays" and the discovery of many of their properties. One of his most important contributions was the experimental realization of the photoelectric effect. He discovered that the energy (speed) of the electrons ejected from a cathode depends only on the frequency, and not the intensity, of the incident light. Lenard was a nationalist and anti-Semite; as an active proponent of the Nazi ideology, he supported Adolf Hitler in the 1920s and was an important role model for the "Deutsche Physik" movement during the Nazi period. Notably, he labeled Albert Einstein's contributions to science as “Jewish physics”.

2. Ányos Jedlik (1800 - 1895)

With an HPI of 55.84, Ányos Jedlik is the 2nd most famous Slovak Physicist.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Ányos István Jedlik was a Hungarian inventor, engineer, physicist, and Benedictine priest. He was also a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and author of several books. He is considered by Hungarians and Slovaks to be the unsung father of the dynamo and electric motor.

3. Johann Andreas Segner (1704 - 1777)

With an HPI of 55.23, Johann Andreas Segner is the 3rd most famous Slovak Physicist.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Johann Andreas von Segner (Hungarian: Segner János András, German: Johann Andreas von Segner, Slovak: Ján Andrej Segner, Latin: Iohannes Andreas de Segner; October 9, 1704 – October 5, 1777) was a Hungarian scientist. He was born in the Kingdom of Hungary, in the former Hungarian capital city of Pozsony, or Pressburg (today Bratislava).