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Rumford Medal facts for kids

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Not to be confused with Rumford Prize.
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Rumford Medal
Benjamin Thompson.jpg
Count Rumford (Sir Benjamin Thompson), for whom the award is named.
Presented by Britain's Royal Society
Date 1800 (1800)
Country  United Kingdom

The Rumford Medal is an award bestowed by Britain's Royal Society every alternating year for "an outstandingly important recent discovery in the field of thermal or optical properties of matter made by a scientist working in Europe".

First awarded during 1800, it was created after a 1796 donation of $5000 by the scientist Benjamin Thompson, known as Count Rumford, and is accompanied by a gift of £1000. Since its inception, the award has been granted to 104 scientists, including Rumford himself during 1800.

It has been awarded to citizens of the United Kingdom sixty-one times, France fourteen times, Germany eight times, the Netherlands seven times, Sweden four times, the United States three times, Italy twice and once each to citizens of Australia, Hungary, Belgium, Luxembourg and New Zealand.

List of recipients

Year Portrait Name Nationality Rationale Notes
1800 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Benjamin Thompson Thompson, BenjaminBenjamin Thompson British "For his various Discoveries respecting Heat and Light"
1802 — No award — — —
1804 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Sir John Leslie Leslie, JohnJohn Leslie British "For his Experiments on Heat, published in his Work, entitled, an Experimental Inquiry into the Nature and Propagation of Heat"
1806 — No award — — —
1808 Photographic portrait of William Murdoch Murdoch, WilliamWilliam Murdoch British "For his publication of the employment of Gas from Coal, for the purpose of illumination"
1810 Photographic portrait of Étienne-Louis Malus Malus, Étienne-LouisÉtienne-Louis Malus French "For his discoveries of certain new Properties of Reflected Light, published in the Second Volume of the Mémoires d'Arcueil"
1812 — No award — — —
1814 — Wells, William CharlesWilliam Charles Wells British "For his Essay on Dew, published in the course of the preceding (1815) year"
1816 Photographic portrait of Sir Humphry Davy Davy, HumphryHumphry Davy British "For his Papers on Combustion and Flame, published in the last volume of the Philosophical Transactions"
1818 Photographic portrait of David Brewster Brewster, DavidDavid Brewster British "For his Discoveries relating to the Polarisation of Light"
1820 — No award — — —
1822 — No award — — —
1824 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Augustin Jean-Fresnel Fresnel, Augustin-JeanAugustin-Jean Fresnel French "For his development of the undulatory theory as applied to the phenomena of polarized light, and for his various important discoveries in Physical Optics"
1826 — No award — — —
1828 — No award — — —
1830 — No award — — —
1832 Photographic portrait of John Frederic Daniell Daniell, John FredericJohn Frederic Daniell British "For his paper, entitled, 'Further Experiments with a new Register Pyrometer, for measuring the Expansion of Solids,' published in the Philosophical Transactions for the year 1831"
1834 Photographic portrait of Macedonio Melloni Melloni, MacedonioMacedonio Melloni Italian "For his discoveries relevant to radiant heat"
1836 — No award — — —
1838 Black-and-white photographic portrait of James David Forbes Forbes, James DavidJames David Forbes British "For his 'Experiments on the Polarization of Heat,' published in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh"
1840 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Jean-Baptiste Biot Biot, Jean-BaptisteJean-Baptiste Biot French "For his researches in, and connected with, the circular Polarization of Light"
1842 Black-and-white photographic portrait of William Fox Talbot Talbot, William FoxWilliam Fox Talbot British "For his discoveries and improvements in photography"
1844 — No award — — —
1846 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Michael Faraday Faraday, MichaelMichael Faraday British "For his discovery of the Optical Phenomena developed by the action of Magnets and Electric Currents in certain Transparent Media, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1846"
1848 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Henri Victor Regnault Regnault, Henri VictorHenri Victor Regnault French "For his 'Experiments to determine the Laws and the numerical data which enter into the calculation of Steam-Engines'"
1850 Photographic portrait of François Arago Arago, FrançoisFrançois Arago French "For his 'Experimental Investigations on Polarized Light,' the concluding memoirs on which were communicated to the Academy of Sciences of Paris during the last two years"
1852 Black-and-white photographic portrait off George Gabriel Stokes (Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronet) Stokes, George GabrielGeorge Gabriel Stokes British "For his 'Discovery of the Change in the Refrangibility of Light'"
1854 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Neil Arnott Arnott, NeilNeil Arnott British "For the successful construction of a new smoke-consuming and fuel-saving fire-grate, described in the Journal of the Society of Arts of May 12, 1854"
1856 Photographic portrait of Louis Pasteur, by Finnish painter Albert Eledfelt Pasteur, LouisLouis Pasteur French "For his discovery of the nature of racemic acid, and its relations to polarized light, and for the researches to which he was led by that discovery"
1858 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Jules Jamin Jamin, JulesJules Jamin French "For his various Experimental Researches on Light"
1860 Black-and-white photographic portrait of James Clerk Maxwell Maxwell, James ClerkJames Clerk Maxwell British "For his Researches on the Composition of Colours, and other Optical papers"
1862 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Gustav Kirchhoff Kirchhoff, GustavGustav Kirchhoff German "For his researches on the fixed lines of the solar spectrum, and on the inversion of the bright lines in the spectra of artificial light"
1864 Black-and-white photographic portrait of John Tyndall, photographed by Lock & Whitfield Tyndall, JohnJohn Tyndall British "For his researches on the absorption and radiation of heat by gases and vapours"
1866 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Hippolyte Fizeau Fizeau, HippolyteHippolyte Fizeau French "For his Optical Researches, and especially for his investigations into the Effect of Heat on the Refractive Power of Transparent Bodies"
1868 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Balfour Stewart Stewart, BalfourBalfour Stewart British "For his researches on the qualitative as well as quantitative relation between the emissive and absorptive powers of bodies for heat and light, published originally in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, and now made more generally accessible by the publication in 1866 of his treatise on heat"
1870 Black-and0white photographic portrait of Alfred Des Cloizeaux Cloizeaux, Alfred DesAlfred Des Cloizeaux French "For his researches in Mineralogical Optics"
1872 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Anders Jonas Angström Anders Jonas Ångström Swedish "For his Researches on Spectral Analysis"
1874 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Norman Lockyer Lockyer, Joseph NormanJoseph Norman Lockyer British "For his spectroscopic researches on the sun and on the chemical elements"
1876 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Jules Janssen, photographed by Nadar Janssen, JulesJules Janssen French "For his numerous & important researches in the radiation and absorption of light, carried on chiefly by means of the spectroscope"
1878 Photographic portrait of Alfred Cornu, photographed by Nadar Cornu, AlfredAlfred Cornu French "For his various optical researches, and especially for his recent re-determination of the velocity of propagation of light"
1880 Photographic portrait of Sir William Huggins, created by John Collier Huggins, WilliamWilliam Huggins British "For his important researches in astronomical spectroscopy, and especially for his determination of the radial component of the proper motions of stars"
1882 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Sir William de Wiveleslie Abney Abney, William de WiveleslieWilliam de Wiveleslie Abney British "For his Photographic Researches and his discovery of the method of photographing the less refrangible part of the spectrum, especially the infra-red region; also for his Researches on the absorption of various compound bodies in this part of the spectrum"
1884 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Tobias Robertus Thalén Thalén, Tobias RobertusTobias Robertus Thalén Swedish "For his spectroscopic researches"
1886 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Samuel Pierpont Langley Langley, Samuel PierpontSamuel Pierpont Langley American "For his researches on the spectrum by means of the Bolometer"
1888 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Pietro Tacchini Tacchini, PietroPietro Tacchini Italian "For important and long-continued investigations, which have largely advanced our knowledge of the physics of the sun"
1890 Black-and-white photographic portrair of Heinrich Hertz Hertz, HeinrichHeinrich Hertz German "For his work in electro-magnetic radiation"
1892 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Nils Christopher Dunér Dunér, Nils ChristofferNils Christoffer Dunér Swedish "For his Spectroscopic Researches on Stars"
1894 Black-and-white photographic portrait of James Dewar Dewar, JamesJames Dewar British "For his researches on the properties of matter at extremely low temperatures"
1896 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Philipp Lenard Lenard, PhilippPhilipp Lenard Hungarian "For their investigation of the phenomena produced outside a highly exhausted vacuum tube through which electrical discharge is taking place"
Black-and-white photographic potrait of Wilhelm Rontgen, photographed by German photographer Nicola Perscheid in 1915 Röntgen, WilhelmWilhelm Röntgen German
1898 Black-and-white photographic potrait of Sir Oliver Lodge Lodge, OliverOliver Lodge British "For his researches in radiation and in the relations between matter and ether"
1900 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Henri Becquerel Becquerel, HenriHenri Becquerel French "For his discoveries in radiation proceeding from Uranium"
1902 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Charles Algernon Parsons Parsons, Charles AlgernonCharles Algernon Parsons British "For his success in the application of the steam turbine to industrial purposes, and for its recent extension to navigation"
1904 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Sir Ernest Rutherford Rutherford, ErnestErnest Rutherford New Zealander "For his researches on radio-activity, particularly for his discovery of the existence and properties of the gaseous emanations from radio-active bodies"
1906 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Hugh Longbourne Callender Callendar, Hugh LongbourneHugh Longbourne Callendar British "For his experimental work on heat"
1908 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Hendrik Lorentz Lorentz, HendrikHendrik Lorentz Dutch "On the ground of his investigations in optical and electrical science"
1910 — Rubens, HeinrichHeinrich Rubens German "For his researches on radiation, especially of long wave-length"
1912 Black-and-white photograph of Heike Kamerlingh Onnes Onnes, Heike KamerlinghHeike Kamerlingh Onnes Dutch "For his researches at low temperatures"
1914 Black-and-white photographic portrait of John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh Strutt, JohnJohn Strutt British "For his numerous researches in optics"
1916 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Sir William Henry Bragg Bragg, William HenryWilliam Henry Bragg British "For his researches in X-ray radiation"
1918 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Charles Fabry Fabry, CharlesCharles Fabry French "For their contributions to optics"
Black-and-white photographic portrait of Alfred Perot Perot, AlfredAlfred Perot
1920 Photograph of Robert Strutt, 4th Baron Rayleight with his son Strutt, RobertRobert Strutt British "For his researches into the properties of gases at high vacua"
1922 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Pieter Zeeman Zeeman, PieterPieter Zeeman Dutch "For his researches in optics"
1924 Portrait of Sir Charles Vernon Boys by John Collier Boys, Charles VernonCharles Vernon Boys British "For his invention of the gas calorimeter"
1926 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Sir Arthur Schuster Schuster, ArthurArthur Schuster British "For his services to physical science, especially in the subjects of optics and terrestrial magnetism"
1928 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Friedrich Paschen Paschen, FriedrichFriedrich Paschen German "For his contributions to the knowledge of spectra"
1930 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Peter Debye Debye, PeterPeter Debye Dutch "For his work relating to specific heats and X-ray spectroscopy"
1932 Black-and-white photographic portait of Fritz Haber Haber, FritzFritz Haber German "For the outstanding importance of his work in physical chemistry, especially in the application of thermodynamics to chemical reactions"
1934 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Wander Johannes de Haas Haas, Wander Johannes deWander Johannes de Haas Dutch "For his researches on the properties of bodies at low temperatures, and in particular, for his recent work on cooling by the use of adiabatic demagnetisation"
1936 — Coker, Ernest GeorgeErnest George Coker British "For his researches on the use of polarized light for investigating directly the stresses in transparent models of engineering structures"
1938 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Robert W. Wood Wood, RobertRobert Wood American "In recognition of his distinguished work and discoveries in many branches of physical optics"
1940 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Manne Siegbahn Siegbahn, ManneManne Siegbahn Swedish "For his pioneer work in high precision X-ray spectroscopy and its applications"
1942 — Dobson, GordonGordon Dobson British "For his outstanding work on the physics of the upper air and its application to meteorology"
1944 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Sir Harry Ricardo Ricardo, HarryHarry Ricardo British "In recognition of his important contributions to research on the internal combustion engine, which have greatly influenced the development of the various types"
1946 — Egerton, AlfredAlfred Egerton British "For his leading part in the application of modern physical chemistry to many technological problems of pressing importance"
1948 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Sir FRancis Simon Simon, FrancisFrancis Simon British "For his outstanding contributions to the attainment of low temperatures and to the study of the properties of substances at temperatures near the absolute zero"
1950 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Sir Frank Whittle Whittle, FrankFrank Whittle British "For his pioneering contributions to the jet propulsion of aircraft"
1952 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Frits Zernike Zernike, FritsFrits Zernike Dutch "For his outstanding work in the development of phase-contrast microscopy"
1954 — Burch, Cecil ReginaldCecil Reginald Burch British "For his distinguished contributions to the technique for the production of high vacua and to the development of the reflecting microscope"
1956 — Bowden, Frank PhilipFrank Philip Bowden Australian "For his distinguished work on the nature of friction"
1958 — Merton, Thomas RalphThomas Ralph Merton British "For his distinguished researches in spectroscopy and optics"
1960 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Alfred Gordon Gaydon Gaydon, Alfred GordonAlfred Gordon Gaydon British "For his distinguished work in the field of molecular spectroscopy and particularly its application to the study of flame phenomena"
1962 — Newitt, Dudley MauriceDudley Maurice Newitt British "For his distinguished contributions to chemical engineering"
1964 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Hendik van de Hulst van de Hulst, HendrikHendrik van de Hulst Dutch "For his distinguished work on the scattering processes in the interplanetary medium and his prediction of the 21 cm spectral line from interstellar neutral hydrogen"
1966 Black-and-white photographic portrait of William Penney Penney, WilliamWilliam Penney British "In recognition of his distinguished and paramount personal contribution to the establishment of economic nuclear energy in Great Britain"
1968 Photograph of Dennis Gabor Gabor, DennisDennis Gabor Hungarian "For his contributions to optics, especially by establishing the principles of holography"
1970 — Hinton, ChristopherChristopher Hinton British "In recognition of his outstanding contributions to engineering and of his leadership of engineering design teams in the chemical and atomic energy industries and in electricity generation"
1972 — Mason, Basil JohnBasil John Mason British "In recognition of his distinguished contributions to meteorology, particularly the physics of clouds"
1974 — Cottrell, AlanAlan Cottrell British "In recognition of his contributions to physical metallurgy and particularly in extending knowledge of the role of dislocation in the fracture of metals"
1976 Photograph of Ilya Prigogine Prigogine, IlyaIlya Prigogine Belgian "In recognition of his distinguished contributions to the theory of irreversible thermodynamics"
1978 Black-and-white photographic portrait of George Porter,Baron Porter of Luddenham Porter, GeorgeGeorge Porter British "In recognition of his distinguished studies of very fast chemical reactions by flash photolysis"
1980 — Vinen, William FrankWilliam Frank Vinen British "In recognition of his discovery of the quantum of circulation in superfluid helium and his development of new techniques for precise measurements within liquid helium"
1982 — Wynne, Charles GorrieCharles Gorrie Wynne British "In recognition of his unique contribution to the design of optical instruments ranging from large telescopes to bubble-chamber optics"
1984 — Hopkins, HaroldHarold Hopkins British "In recognition of his many contributions to the theory and design of optical instruments, especially of a wide variety of important new medical instruments which have made a major contribution to clinical diagnosis and surgery"
1986 — Rooke, DenisDenis Rooke British "In recognition of his contributions to scientific developments in the gas industry"
1988 — Weinberg, FelixFelix Weinberg British "In recognition of his pioneering work on optical diagnostics and electrical aspects of combustion and his fundamental studies of flame problems associated with jet engines and furnaces"
1990 — Spear, Walter EricWalter Eric Spear German "For discovering and applying techniques for depositing and characterising thin films of high quality amorphous silicon and for demonstrating that these can be doped to give useful electronic devices, such as cost-effective solar cells and large arrays of thin film transistors, now used in commercial, flat-panel, LCD colour TV screens"
1992 — Temperley, Harold Neville VazeilleHarold Neville Vazeille Temperley British "In recognition of his wide-ranging and imaginative contributions to applied mathematics and statistical physics, especially in the physical properties of liquids and the development of the Temperley-Lieb algebra"
1994 — Keller, AndrewAndrew Keller British "In recognition of his contributions to polymer science, in particular his elucidation of the basis of polymeric crystallization, a fundamental ingredient in many materials, to methods of making strong fibres and to the understanding of polymer solutions which underlie this technology"
1996 — Turner, GrenvilleGrenville Turner British "In recognition of his work on the 40Ar/39Ar method of dating developing this technique to a sophisticated level and one which is widely used for dating extraterrestrial and terrestrial rocks"
1998 Photograph of Sir Richard Friend Friend, RichardRichard Friend British "In recognition of his leading research in the development of polymer-based electronics and optoelectronics leading to a very rapid growth of development activities aimed at plastic electronic displays, with advantages of very low cost, flexibility, and the option of curved or flat surfaces"
2000 — Sibbett, WilsonWilson Sibbett British "In recognition of his research on ultra-short pulse laser science and technology.
2002 Photographic portrait of Sir David King King, DavidDavid King British "For outstanding contributions to our fundamental understanding of the structure and dynamics of reaction processes on solid surfaces"
2004 — Dixon, RichardRichard Dixon British "In recognition of his many contributions to molecular spectroscopy and to the dynamics of molecular photodissociation"
2006 — Hansen, Jean-PierreJean-Pierre Hansen Luxembourger "For his pioneering work on molten salts and dense plasmas that has led the way to a quantitative understanding of the structure and dynamics of strongly correlated ionic liquids"
2008 — Hinds, EdwardEdward Hinds British "For his extensive and highly innovative work in ultra-cold matter"
2010 — Lonzarich, GilbertGilbert Lonzarich British "For his outstanding work into novel types of quantum matter using innovative instrumentation and techniques"
2012 Photograph of J. Roy Taylor Taylor, RoyRoy Taylor British "For his outstanding contributions to tunable ultrafast lasers and nonlinear fibre optics, including fibre Raman, soliton and supercontinuum laser sources, which translated fundamental discoveries to practical technology"
2014 Black-and-white photographic portrait of Jeremy Baumberg Baumberg, JeremyJeremy Baumberg British "For his outstanding creativity in nanophotonics, investigating many ingenious nanostructures, both artificial and natural to support novel plasmonic phenomena relevant to Raman spectroscopy, solar cell performance and meta-materials applications."
2016 — Hess, OrtwinOrtwin Hess German

British

 "For his pioneering work in active nano-plasmonics and optical metamaterials with quantum gain."
2018 — Walmsley, IanIan Walmsley British "For pioneering work in the quantum control of light and matter on ultrashort timescales, especially the invention and application of new techniques for characterization of quantum and classical light fields."
2019 Photographic portrait of Miles John Padgett Padgett, MilesMiles Padgett British "For world leading research on optical orbital momentum including an angular form of the Einstein-Padolsky-Rosen paradox"
2020 Photographic portrait of Patrick Gill Gill, PatrickPatrick Gill British "For his development of optical atomic clocks of exquisite precision, of ultra-stable lasers and of frequency standards for fundamental physics, quantum information processing, space science, satellite navigation and Earth observation."
2021 Photograph of Carlos Frenk Frenk, CarlosCarlos Frenk Mexican

British

 "For revealing via elaborate computer simulations, how small fluctuations in the early universe develop into today’s galaxies."
2022 Photograph of Raymond Pierrehumbert Pierrehumbert, RaymondRaymond Pierrehumbert American "For his wide-ranging contributions to atmospheric physics, employing fundamental principles of physics to elucidate phenomena across the spectrum of planetary atmospheres."
2023 Photographic portrait of Polina Bayvel Bayvel, PolinaPolina Bayvel British "For pioneering contributions to the fundamental physics and nonlinear optics, enabling the realisation of high capacity, broad bandwidth, multi-wavelength, optical communication systems that have underpinned the information technology revolution."

See also

  • List of physics awards
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