Max Planck is best known as one of the founders of the quantum theory of physics. As a result of his research on heat radiation he was led to conclude that energy can sometimes be described as consisting of discrete units, later given the name quanta. This discovery was important because it made possible, for the first time, the use of matter-related concepts in an analysis of phenomena involving energy. Planck also made important contributions in the fields of thermodynamics, relativity, and the philosophy of science. He was awarded the 1918 Nobel Prize in physics for his discovery of the quantum effect .

Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck was born on April 23, 1858, in Kiel, Germany. His parents were Johann Julius Wilhelm von Planck, originally of Göttingen, and Emma Patzig, of Griefswald. Johann had previously been married to Mathilde Voigt, of Jena, with whom he had two children. Max...