Mathematics and Physics
The country also has a strong tradition in mathematics. At the Tokyo International Mathematics Olympiad in 2003 Bulgaria finished in first place from a total of 82 participating countries. Bulgaria beat China (2nd place finish), the USA (3rd place finish) and Russia (4th place finish), countries that have respectively 184, 39 and 18 times its population. Bulgaria also became one of only four countries in the history of the International Mathematics Olympiad to win that competition by having all six of its team members finish with gold medals. It also set a new record by becoming by far the smallest country in the world to have accomplished this. (The other countries that have done this have populations significantly over 100 million, as opposed to Bulgaria's mere 7.6 million.)
Ivan Stranski (1897–1979) developed the molecular-kinetic theory of crystal formation and crystal growth. The results of his work on crystal structure and behaviour have had wide application in the areas of physical chemistry, metallurgy and mining. Georgi Nadjakov was among Bulgaria's top physicists, and became known for his experiments on the photoelectric effect and most notably, the discovery of photoelectrets. Nadjakov's discoveries are now widely employed in photocopier machines.
As of 2007 CERN employed more than 90 Bulgarian scientists, and about 30 of them will actively participate in the Large Hadron Collider experiments.
Read more about this topic: Science And Technology In Bulgaria
Famous quotes containing the words mathematics and/or physics:
“It is a monstrous thing to force a child to learn Latin or Greek or mathematics on the ground that they are an indispensable gymnastic for the mental powers. It would be monstrous even if it were true.”
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“Now the twitching stops. Now you are still. We are through with physiology and theology, physics begins.”
—Alfred Döblin (1878–1957)