Dirac, Paul
Dirac, Paul (Adrien Maurice) (1902-1984), a British physicist. His most significant contribution was his 1928 mathematical theory describing the properties and behavior of the electron. In developing the theory he used certain equations that suggested the existence of the positron (positively charged electron) and other antiparticles that were later discovered to actually exist. For his work on atomic theory he shared the 1933 Nobel Prize for physics.
Dirac was born in Bristol and graduated from Bristol University in 1921. He received a doctorate from Cambridge University in 1926 and was a professor there, 1932-69. He became a professor of physics at Florida State University in 1971.
His books include: Principles of Quantum Mechanics (1930); Lectures on Quantum Mechanics (1964); General Theory of Relativity (1975).