worked in Poland, and after World War II settled in the United States (the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton). Work Smoluchowski conducted fundamental research on the kinetic theory of matter. In 1904 he discovered density fluctuations in the gas phase, and in 1908 he was the first physicist to ascribe the phenomenon of critical opalescence to large density fluctuations. His investigations explained the blue color of the sky as a consequence of light scattering in the atmosphere. In 1906, shortly after Albert Einstein, he independently explained Brownian motion. Smoluchowski presented an equation which became a basis for the theory of stochastic processes. In 1916 he proposed the equation for diffusion in an external potential field. This equation bears his name. See also Critical opalescence Electrophoresis List of Poles (physicists) Marian Smoluchowski Medal Notes Literature A. Teske, Marian Smoluchowski, Leben und Werk. Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, 1977. A. Einstein and M. von Smoluchowski: "Untersuchungen über die Theorie der Brownschen Bewegung. Abhandlung über die Brownsche Bewegung und verwandte Erscheinungen", Harri Deutsch, 1997. (Ostwalds Klassiker der exakten Wissenschaften Band 199). . S. Chandrasekhar, M. Kac, R. Smoluchowski, "Marian Smoluchowski - his life and scientific work", ed. by R.S. Ingarden, PWN, Warszawa 1999. E. Seneta (2001) Marian Smoluchowski, Statisticians of the Centuries (ed. C. C. Heyde and E. Seneta) pp. 299–302. New York: Springer. S. Ulam (1957) Marian Smoluchowski and the Theory of Probabilities in Physics, American Journal of Physics, 25, 475-481 (ISSN 0002-9505). Abraham Pais, Subtle is the Lord, chapter 5, section 5e. Einstein and Smoluchowski; Critical Opalescence, (pp. 100–103), Oxford University Press, (1982) 2005, . External links umcs.lublin.pl Chronological Table of Marian Smoluchowski's Life, (Retrieved 13 April 2010) M. Smoluchowski's Writings in 3 Volumes (papers as pdf files) (Retrieved 13 April 2010) A. Fuliński: On Marian Smoluchowski's life and contribution to physics pdf file, , Acta Phys. Polonica B, Vol. 29 (1998), No 6, pp. 1523–1537 (Retrieved 13 April 2010) internet version of Wielka Encyklopedia Tatrzańska, entry Marian Smoluchowski (as a mountaineer), , after Zofia i Witold H. Paryscy, Wielka Encyklopedia Tatrzańska, 1995, 2004, (Retrieved 13 April 2010) 1872 births 1917 deaths 20th-century Polish physicists Polish mountain climbers Scientists from Vienna Austrian knights Burials at Rakowicki Cemetery Polish Austro-Hungarians People from Mödling Deaths from dysentery Infectious disease deaths in Poland Academic staff of Jagiellonian University Academic staff of the University of Lviv