PHYSICIST

Hannes Alfvén

1908 - 1995

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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. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Hannes Alfvén has received more than 319,896 page views. His biography is available in 74 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 68 in 2019). Hannes Alfvén is the 147th most popular physicist (up from 173rd in 2019), the 75th most popular biography from Sweden (up from 95th in 2019) and the 4th most popular Swedish Physicist.

Hannes Alfvén is most famous for his work in plasma astrophysics. He helped develop the theory of magnetohydrodynamics, which explains how plasmas behave in space.

Memorability Metrics

  • 320k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 66.50

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 74

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 14.11

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.63

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among PHYSICISTS

Among physicists, Hannes Alfvén ranks 147 out of 851. Before him are Donald A. Glaser, Auguste Piccard, Kip Thorne, Jacques Charles, Georges Charpak, and Pavel Cherenkov. After him are Simon van der Meer, Karl Schwarzschild, Willard Boyle, Johann Jakob Balmer, Albert Fert, and Hans Geiger.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1908, Hannes Alfvén ranks 25. Before him are Ian Fleming, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Mika Waltari, Anna Magnani, David Oistrakh, and Nelson Rockefeller. After him are Joseph McCarthy, Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Franz Stangl, Amon Göth, Joseph Rotblat, and Ilya Frank. Among people deceased in 1995, Hannes Alfvén ranks 17. Before him are Konrad Zuse, Dean Martin, Harold Wilson, Anatoly Dyatlov, Maurizio Gucci, and Patricia Highsmith. After him are Teresa Teng, Gerald Durrell, Edward Bernays, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Lana Turner, and Murray Rothbard.

Others Born in 1908

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Others Deceased in 1995

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In Sweden

Among people born in Sweden, Hannes Alfvén ranks 75 out of 1,879. Before him are Dolph Lundgren (1957), Theodor Svedberg (1884), Eyvind Johnson (1900), Verner von Heidenstam (1859), Louise of Sweden (1851), and Princess Birgitta of Sweden (1937). After him are Sven Hedin (1865), Eric IX of Sweden (1120), Olof Skötkonung (980), Eric the Victorious (945), Marie Taglioni (1804), and Harry Martinson (1904).

Others born in Sweden

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Among PHYSICISTS In Sweden

Among physicists born in Sweden, Hannes Alfvén ranks 4. Before him are Manne Siegbahn (1886), Gustaf Dalén (1869), and Anders Jonas Ångström (1814). After him are Kai Siegbahn (1918), Rolf Maximilian Sievert (1896), Johannes Rydberg (1854), Vagn Walfrid Ekman (1874), Oskar Klein (1894), Christopher Polhem (1661), Knut Ångström (1857), and Wilhelm Hisinger (1766).

Swedish born Physicists

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