One of the leading figures of modern science, Danish physicist Niels Henrik David Bohr (1885-1962) was born in Copenhagen, studied at Copenhagen University, and was a professor there.

"If an idea does not appear bizarre, there is no hope for it," he once said.

In 1912, Bohr moved to England and worked with the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Ernest Rutherford to better understand the structure of the atom. Their research combined quantum theory with atomic structure and showed the atom's center nucleus with electrons, fixed in orbit from the nucleus.

"When it comes to atoms," Bohr said, "language can be used only as in poetry. The poet, too, is not nearly so concerned with describing facts as with creating images."

Bohr is well-known for his friendly debates with Albert Einstein about quantum theory. "Not often in life has a man given me so much happiness by his mere presence as you have done," Einstein wrote to Bohr. "I have learned much from you, mainly from your sensitive approach to scientific problems."

Bohr won the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics for his theory of atom structure and was involved in the research at Los Alamos, New Mexico in 1945.

"Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future," said the distinguished scientist. He lobbied for peaceful atomic policies and won the first U.S. Atoms for Peace award in 1957.

About processing incredible new ideas he observed, "Anyone who is not dizzy after his first acquaintance with the quantum of action has not understood a word."

Lighten the mood with laughter.