What Royal Society medal did Niels Bohr receive in 1938?

Niels Bohr received the Copley Medal from the Royal Society in 1938.

The award recognised his distinguished work in theoretical physics, especially his development of the quantum theory of atomic structure. Bohr had introduced his model of the atom in 1913, proposing that electrons occupy quantised energy levels rather than moving through arbitrary classical orbits.

The Copley Medal is the Royal Society’s oldest and most prestigious scientific award. First presented in 1731, it recognises sustained, outstanding achievements in any field of science. Bohr was already a Nobel Prize winner when he received it: he had been awarded the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics for his investigations of the structure of atoms and the radiation emanating from them.

A common mix-up is the Hughes Medal, which Bohr received earlier, in 1921. The Davy Medal and Royal Medal are also Royal Society honours, but neither was Bohr’s 1938 award. His Copley Medal placed him among the leading scientists recognised by Britain’s national academy during the formative years of quantum physics.