It was 100 years ago this year, in 1913, that physicist Niels Bohr discovered the quantum atom (i.e the atomic nucleus in the center with the electrons in orbit around it). For this work he received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922. In honor of this goundbreaking event read about some of the other amazing discoveries by physicists throughout history:

American Prometheus: the triumph and tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

The Curies: a biography of the most controversial family in science by Denis Brian

Degrees Kelvin: a tale of genius, invention, and tragedy by David Lindley

Edward Teller: the real Dr. Strangelove by Peter Goodchild

Einstein: his life and universe by Walter Isaacson

The end of the certain world: the life and science of Max Born: the Nobel physicist who ignited the quantum revolution by Nancy Thorndike Greenspan

Erwin Schrödinger and the quantum revolution by John Gribbin

A force of nature: the frontier genius of Ernest Rutherford by Richard Reeves

Galileo by J. L. Heilbron

Genius in the shadows: a biography of Leo Szilard: the man behind the bomb by William Lanouette with Bela Silard ; foreword by Jonas Salk

A life of discovery: Michael Faraday, giant of the scientific revolution by James Hamilton

The man who changed everything: the life of James Clerk Maxwell by Basil Mahon

The man who invented the computer: the biography of John Atanasoff, digital pioneer by Jane Smiley

The Martians of Science: five physicists who changed the twentieth century by Istvan Hargittai

Newton by Peter Ackroyd

The Northern Lights: [the true story of the man who unlocked the secrets of the aurora borealis] by Lucy Jago

Quantum man: Richard Feynman's life in science by Lawrence M. Krauss

Stealing God's thunder: Benjamin Franklin's lightning rod and the invention of America by Philip Dray

Stephen Hawking: a life in science by Michael White and John Gribbin

Tuxedo Park: a Wall Street tycoon and the secret palace of science that changed the course of World War II by Jennet Conant