Niels Bohr

Hello! My name is Niels Bohr. I was born on October 7th, 1885, in a beautiful city called Copenhagen, in Denmark. My father was a professor, which meant our house was always full of interesting people talking about big ideas. I loved listening to them and asking lots of questions about how everything in the world worked. When I wasn't thinking about science, my brother, Harald, and I loved to be active. Our favorite thing to do was play sports, especially soccer! We would run and play for hours, but my mind was always buzzing with questions.

When I grew up, I went to a university to study physics, which is the science of how things move and work. I was most fascinated by atoms, which are the super-tiny building blocks that make up everything you see! In 1913, I had a very big idea about what atoms look like on the inside. I imagined that an atom was like a tiny solar system. I thought there was a center part, called a nucleus, that was like the sun. Then, tiny little electrons zoomed around it on special paths, just like planets orbit the sun. This idea became known as the Bohr model of the atom, and it helped everyone picture what these invisible building blocks might look like.

I loved sharing my ideas with other scientists and hearing their ideas, too. I believed that when we worked together, we could learn so much more. So, in 1921, I started a special school in Copenhagen where scientists from all over the world could come to work and talk together about their discoveries. It was a wonderful place for big ideas. Just one year later, in 1922, I received a very special award called the Nobel Prize in Physics for my discoveries about atoms. I was so proud that my curiosity had helped people understand the world in a new way.

I lived a long and exciting life filled with questions and discoveries, and I lived to be 77 years old. Today, my ideas about the atom are still a big part of science, helping others make even more amazing discoveries. I hope my story reminds you that it’s wonderful to be curious and to always keep asking questions about the world around you!