Max Born was a German theoretical physicist who was a central figure in the development of quantum mechanics. His most important contribution was the probabilistic interpretation of the Schrödinger wave equation, which provided a link between wave mechanics and the old quantum theory. He shared the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physics with Walther Bothe, and devoted his later years to the philosophy of physics.

Born was professor of physics at Göttingen University from 1921 but left Germany in 1933 and went to Britain, teaching at Cambridge (1933–1936) and Edinburgh (1936–1953). He returned to German in 1954.