Lawrence Bragg

About Lawrence Bragg

Sir William Lawrence Bragg, who lived from 1890 to 1971, was a seminal figure in 20th-century physics, recognized by his #866 ranking in historical importance. Along with his father, W. H. Bragg, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1915 for their groundbreaking work on X-ray crystallography. This technique was crucial for determining the atomic structure of crystals, fundamentally advancing materials science and physics.

Despite this profound scientific legacy, Lawrence Bragg's modern digital footprint suggests significant underattention. His 56K annualized Wikipedia views in 2025 position him with an Attention Gap of -6x relative to his historical rank. To illustrate this disconnect, a comparison against fellow physicists in the Pantheon shows a notable disparity: Hendrik Lorentz, ranked #931 (less important), still garnered 118K views in 2025. Even James Clerk Maxwell, ranked narrowly lower at #881, achieved a commanding 531K views.

Interestingly, while his overall attention is low, Bragg's Q1 versus Q3 2025 momentum showed a strong relative surge of +24%, suggesting recent, albeit minor, spikes in contemporary interest against a $-1.1\%$ year-over-year decline.