List of notable or famous physicists from the Netherlands, with bios and photos, including the top physicists born in the Netherlands and even some popular physicists who immigrated to the Netherlands. If you're trying to find out the names of famous Dutch physicists then this list is the perfect resource for you. These physicists are among the most prominent in their field, and information about each well-known physicist from the Netherlands is included when available.
People include everything from Wubbo Ockels to Andre Geim.
This historic physicists from the Netherlands list can help answer the questions "Who are some Dutch physicists of note?" and "Who are the most famous physicists from the Netherlands?" These prominent physicists of the Netherlands may or may not be currently alive, but what they all have in common is that they're all respected Dutch physicists.
Use this list of renowned Dutch physicists to discover some new physicists that you aren't familiar with. Don't forget to share this list by clicking one of the social media icons at the top or bottom of the page. {#nodes}1
Aaldert Wapstra
Dec. at 83 (1923-2006)Birthplace: Netherlands
Birthplace: Netherlands
Aaldert Hendrik Wapstra (24 April 1922, Utrecht – 2 December 2006, Naarden) was a Dutch physicist. Wapstra studied physics at Utrecht University and obtained his PhD with the dissertation Decay... more2
Abraham Pais
Dec. at 82 (1918-2000)Birthplace: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Birthplace: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Abraham Pais (; May 19, 1918 – July 28, 2000) was a Dutch-American physicist and science historian. Pais earned his Ph.D. from University of Utrecht just prior to a Nazi ban on Jewish participation... more- 3
Adriaan Fokker
Dec. at 85 (1887-1972)Birthplace: Dutch East Indies
Birthplace: Dutch East Indies
Adriaan Daniël Fokker (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈaːdriaːn ˈdaːniɛl ˈfɔkər]; 17 August 1887 – 24 September 1972) was a Dutch physicist and musician. He was the inventor of the Fokker organ, a 31-tone... more 
4Aldert Van der Ziel
Dec. at 81 (1910-1991)Prof. Dr. Aldert van der Ziel, was a Dutch physicist who studied electronic noise processes in materials such as semiconductors and metals.... more- 5
Andre Geim
Age: 61Birthplace: Sochi, Krasnodar, Russia
Birthplace: Sochi, Krasnodar, Russia
Sir Andre Konstantin Geim, FRS, HonFRSC, HonFInstP (born 21 October 1958) is a Dutch-British physicist working in England in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester.Geim... more - 6
Antonius van den Broek
Dec. at 56 (1870-1926)Antonius Johannes van den Broek (4 May 1870, Zoetermeer – 25 October 1926, Bilthoven) was a Dutch amateur physicist notable for being the first who realized that the number of an element in the... more - 7
Arend Joan Rutgers
Dec. at 95 (1903-1998)Arend Joan Rutgers (October 20, 1903 in Almelo, Netherlands – September 2, 1998 in Almen) was a Dutch/Belgian physical chemist. Arend Joan Rutgers went to high school in Almelo, after which he... more - 8
Balthasar van der Pol
Dec. at 70 (1889-1959)Birthplace: Utrecht, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Birthplace: Utrecht, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Balthasar van der Pol (27 January 1889 – 6 October 1959) was a Dutch physicist. Van der Pol began his studies of physics in Utrecht in 1911. J. A. Fleming offered van der Pol the use of the Pender... more - 9
Carlo Beenakker
Age: 60Birthplace: Leiden, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Birthplace: Leiden, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Carlo Willem Joannes Beenakker (born June 9, 1960) is a professor at Leiden University and leader of the university's mesoscopic physics group, established in 1992. ... more - 10
Carolyne M. Van Vliet
Age: 91Birthplace: Dordrecht, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Birthplace: Dordrecht, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Carolyne Marina Van Vliet (1929 – 2016) was a Dutch-American physicist notable for the theory of generation-recombination noise and for the theory of quantum transport in nonequilibrium statistical... more - 11
Cees Dekker
Age: 61Birthplace: Haren, Groningen, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Birthplace: Haren, Groningen, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Cornelis "Cees" Dekker (born April 7, 1959 in Haren, Groningen) is a Dutch physicist, and Distinguished University Professor at the Technical University of Delft. He is known for his research on... more - 12
Christiaan Huygens
Dec. at 66 (1629-1695)Birthplace: The Hague, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Birthplace: The Hague, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Christiaan Huygens ( HY-gənz, also US: HOY-gənz, Dutch: [ˈkrɪstijaːn ˈɦœyɣə(n)s] (listen); Latin: Hugenius; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695), also spelled Huyghens, was a Dutch physicist,... more - 13
Clemens C. J. Roothaan
Age: 102Birthplace: Nijmegen, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Birthplace: Nijmegen, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Clemens C. J. Roothaan (August 29, 1918 – June 17, 2019) was a Dutch physicist and chemist known for his development of the self-consistent field theory of molecular structure. Roothaan was born in... more - 14
Cornelis Rudolphus Theodorus Krayenhoff
Dec. at 82 (1758-1840)Corneli(u)s Rudolphus Theodorus, Baron Krayenhoff (Nijmegen, 2 June 1758 – Nijmegen, 24 November 1840) was a physicist, artist, general, hydraulic engineer, cartographer and - against his will and... more - 15
Daniel Bernoulli
Dec. at 82 (1700-1782)Birthplace: Groningen, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Birthplace: Groningen, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Daniel Bernoulli FRS (German pronunciation: [bɛʁˈnʊli]; 29 January 1700 – 17 March 1782) was a Swiss mathematician and physicist and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli... more - 16
Dirk Polder
Dec. at 82 (1919-2001)Birthplace: The Hague, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Birthplace: The Hague, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Dirk Polder (August 23, 1919 – March 18, 2001) was a Dutch physicist who, together with Hendrik Casimir, first predicted the existence of what today is known as the Casimir-Polder force, sometimes... more - 17
Dirk Coster
Dec. at 61 (1889-1950)Birthplace: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Birthplace: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Dirk Coster (October 5, 1889 – February 12, 1950), was a Dutch physicist. He was a Professor of Physics and Meteorology at the University of Groningen. Coster was born in Amsterdam. On February 26,... more - 18
Edsger W. Dijkstra
Dec. at 72 (1930-2002)Birthplace: Rotterdam, Netherlands
Birthplace: Rotterdam, Netherlands
Edsger Wybe Dijkstra (; Dutch: [ˈɛtsxər ˈʋibə ˈdɛikstra] (listen); 11 May 1930 – 6 August 2002) was a Dutch systems scientist, programmer, software engineer, science essayist, and pioneer in... more - 19
Eric Mazur
Age: 65Birthplace: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Birthplace: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Eric Mazur (born November 14, 1954) is a physicist and educator at Harvard University, and an entrepreneur in technology start-ups for the educational and technology markets. Mazur's research is in... more - 20
Erik Verlinde
Age: 58Birthplace: Woudenberg, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Birthplace: Woudenberg, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Erik Peter Verlinde (Dutch: [ˈeːrɪk ˈpeːtər vərˈlɪndə]; born 21 January 1962) is a Dutch theoretical physicist and string theorist. He is the identical twin brother of physicist Herman Verlinde. The... more - 21
Frans Michel Penning
Dec. at 59 (1894-1953)Birthplace: Gorinchem, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Birthplace: Gorinchem, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Frans Michel Penning (12 September 1894 – 6 December 1953) was a Dutch experimental physicist. He received his PhD from the University of Leiden in 1923, and studied low pressure gas discharges at... more - 22
Frits Zernike
Dec. at 78 (1888-1966)Birthplace: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Birthplace: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Frits Zernike (Dutch pronunciation: [frɪts ˈzɛrnikə]; 16 July 1888 – 10 March 1966) was a Dutch physicist and winner of the Nobel Prize for physics in 1953 for his invention of the phase-contrast... more - 23
Geertruida de Haas-Lorentz
Dec. at 88 (1885-1973)Geertruida Luberta de Haas-Lorentz (20 November 1885, in Leiden – 1973) was a female Dutch physicist and the first to perform fluctuational analysis of electrons as Brownian particles. Consequently... more - 24
George Uhlenbeck
Dec. at 88 (1900-1988)Birthplace: Jakarta, Indonesia
Birthplace: Jakarta, Indonesia
George Eugene Uhlenbeck (December 6, 1900 – October 31, 1988) was a Dutch-American theoretical physicist.... more - 25
Gerard 't Hooft
Age: 74Birthplace: Den Helder, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Birthplace: Den Helder, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Gerardus (Gerard) 't Hooft (Dutch: [ˈɣeːrɑrt ət ˈɦoːft]; born July 5, 1946) is a Dutch theoretical physicist and professor at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. He shared the 1999 Nobel Prize in... more
