The Most Famous

PHYSICISTS from Sweden

This page contains a list of the greatest Swedish Physicists. The pantheon dataset contains 851 Physicists, 15 of which were born in Sweden. This makes Sweden the birth place of the 12th most number of Physicists behind Poland, and Switzerland.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Swedish Physicists of all time. This list of famous Swedish 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 Swedish Physicists.

1. Manne Siegbahn (1886 - 1978)

With an HPI of 69.99, Manne Siegbahn is the most famous Swedish Physicist. His biography has been translated into 76 different languages on wikipedia.

Karl Manne Georg Siegbahn (3 December 1886 – 26 September 1978) was a Swedish physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1924 "for his discoveries and research in the field of X-ray spectroscopy".

2. Gustaf Dalén (1869 - 1937)

With an HPI of 68.89, Gustaf Dalén is the 2nd most famous Swedish Physicist. His biography has been translated into 82 different languages.

Nils Gustaf Dalén (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈɡɵ̂sːtav daˈleːn] ; 30 November 1869 – 9 December 1937) was a Swedish engineer, industrialist, long-term CEO of the AGA company and inventor of the AGA cooker and the Dalén light. In 1912, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his "invention of automatic regulators for use in conjunction with gas accumulators for illuminating lighthouses and buoys".

3. Anders Jonas Ångström (1814 - 1874)

With an HPI of 68.16, Anders Jonas Ångström is the 3rd most famous Swedish Physicist. His biography has been translated into 62 different languages.

Anders Jonas Ångström (Swedish: [ˈânːdɛʂ ˈjûːnas ˈɔ̂ŋːstrœm]; 13 August 1814 – 21 June 1874) was a Swedish physicist and one of the founders of the science of spectroscopy. Ångström is also well known for his studies of astrophysics, heat transfer, terrestrial magnetism, and the aurora borealis. In 1852, Ångström formulated in Optiska undersökningar (Optical investigations), a law of absorption, later modified somewhat and known as Kirchhoff's law of thermal radiation.

4. Hannes Alfvén (1908 - 1995)

With an HPI of 66.50, Hannes Alfvén is the 4th most famous Swedish Physicist. His biography has been translated into 74 different languages.

Hannes Olof Gösta Alfvén (Swedish: [alˈveːn]; 30 May 1908 – 2 April 1995) was a Swedish electrical engineer, plasma physicist and winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). He described the class of MHD waves now known as Alfvén waves. He was originally trained as an electrical power engineer and later moved to research and teaching in the fields of plasma physics and electrical engineering. Alfvén made many contributions to plasma physics, including theories describing the behavior of aurorae, the Van Allen radiation belts, the effect of magnetic storms on the Earth's magnetic field, the terrestrial magnetosphere, and the dynamics of plasmas in the Milky Way galaxy.

5. Kai Siegbahn (1918 - 2007)

With an HPI of 65.68, Kai Siegbahn is the 5th most famous Swedish Physicist. His biography has been translated into 62 different languages.

Kai Manne Börje Siegbahn (20 April 1918 – 20 July 2007) was a Swedish physicist who shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics.

6. Rolf Maximilian Sievert (1896 - 1966)

With an HPI of 63.05, Rolf Maximilian Sievert is the 6th most famous Swedish Physicist. His biography has been translated into 38 different languages.

Rolf Maximilian Sievert (Swedish: [ˈrɔlf maksɪˈmǐːlɪan ˈsǐːvɛʈ]; 6 May 1896 – 3 October 1966) was a Swedish medical physicist whose major contribution was in the study of the biological effects of ionizing radiation. The sievert (Sv), the SI unit representing the stochastic health risk of ionizing radiation, is named for him. He has been called the "Father of Radiation Protection".

7. Johannes Rydberg (1854 - 1919)

With an HPI of 61.74, Johannes Rydberg is the 7th most famous Swedish Physicist. His biography has been translated into 45 different languages.

Johannes (Janne) Robert Rydberg (Swedish: [ˈrŷːdbærj]; 8 November 1854 – 28 December 1919) was a Swedish physicist mainly known for devising the Rydberg formula, in 1888, which is used to describe the wavelengths of photons (of visible light and other electromagnetic radiation) emitted by changes in the energy level of an electron in a hydrogen atom.

8. Vagn Walfrid Ekman (1874 - 1954)

With an HPI of 59.67, Vagn Walfrid Ekman is the 8th most famous Swedish Physicist. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Vagn Walfrid Ekman (3 May 1874 – 9 March 1954) was a Swedish oceanographer. Born in Stockholm to Fredrik Laurentz Ekman, himself an oceanographer, he became committed to oceanography while studying physics at the University of Uppsala and, in particular, on hearing Vilhelm Bjerknes lecture on fluid dynamics. During the expedition of the Fram, Fridtjof Nansen had observed that icebergs tend to drift not in the direction of the prevailing wind but at an angle of 20°-40° to the right. Bjerknes invited Ekman, still a student, to investigate the problem. Later, in 1905, Ekman published his theory of the Ekman spiral which explains the phenomenon in terms of the balance between frictional effects in the ocean and the Coriolis force, which arises from moving objects in a rotating environment, like planetary rotation. On completing his doctorate in Uppsala in 1902, Ekman joined the International Laboratory for Oceanographic Research, Oslo where he worked for seven years, not only extending his theoretical work but also developing experimental techniques and instruments such as the Ekman current meter and Ekman water bottle. From 1910 to 1939 he continued his theoretical and experimental work at the University of Lund, where he was professor of mechanics and mathematical physics. He was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1935. A gifted amateur bass singer, pianist, and composer, he continued working right up to his death in Gostad, near Stockaryd, Sweden.

9. Oskar Klein (1894 - 1977)

With an HPI of 56.68, Oskar Klein is the 9th most famous Swedish Physicist. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Oskar Benjamin Klein (Swedish: [ˈklajn]; 15 September 1894 – 5 February 1977) was a Swedish theoretical physicist. Oskar Klein is known for his work on Kaluza–Klein theory, which is partially named after him.

10. Christopher Polhem (1661 - 1751)

With an HPI of 56.65, Christopher Polhem is the 10th most famous Swedish Physicist. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Christopher Polhammar (18 December 1661 – 30 August 1751) better known as Christopher Polhem (), which he took after his ennoblement in 1716, was a Swedish scientist, inventor, and industrialist. He made significant contributions to the economic and industrial development of Sweden, particularly mining. He was ennobled by King Charles XII of Sweden for his contributions to Swedish technological development.

People

Pantheon has 17 people classified as Swedish physicists born between 1661 and 1967. Of these 17, 2 (11.76%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Swedish physicists include Max Tegmark, and Sverker Johansson. The most famous deceased Swedish physicists include Manne Siegbahn, Gustaf Dalén, and Anders Jonas Ångström. As of April 2024, 2 new Swedish physicists have been added to Pantheon including Inga Fischer-Hjalmars, and Bengt Edlén.