This is a list of important publications in physics, organized by field. Some reasons why a particular publication might be regarded as important: Topic creator – A publication that created a new topic Breakthrough – A publication that changed scientific knowledge significantly Influence – A publication which has significantly influenced the world or has had a massive impact on the teaching of physics. Applied physics Accelerator physics The Swedish physicist Gustav Ising was the first one to publish the basic concept of a linear accelerator (in this case, as part of a cathode ray tube). The Norwegian physicist Rolf Widerøe took Ising's idea and expanded it. Later, he built the first operational linear accelerator. These two articles describe the betatron concept and the first experimental data of a working betatron, built by Donald William Kerst. These publications were the first to introduce the idea of strong focusing to particle beams, enabling the transition from compact circular accelerator concepts to separate-function magnet devices like synchrotrons, storage rings and particle colliders. Biophysics Schrödinger, E. W. (1944). What Is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell. Cambridge University Press. . Turing, A. M. (1952). "The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B. 237 (641): 37–72. doi:10.1098/rstb.1952.0012. , , Cell Mathematical Medical An influential graduate textbook in MRI by some of the principal advancers of the field. Molecular Neurophysics Describes the Hodgkin-Huxley model of action potentials in neurons. Plant Geophysics English translation: Republication of the 1893 unabridged and unaltered translation by Paul Fleury Mottelay. Early description of magnetism from an Elizabethan scientist consisting of six books. Erroneously attributes magnetism as causing the motion of bodies in the Solar system. A classic reference on the Earth's magnetic field and related topics in meteorology, solar and lunar physics, the aurora, techniques of spherical harmonic analysis and treatment of periodicities in geophysical data. Its comprehensive summaries made it the standard reference on geomagnetism and the ionosphere for at least 2 decades. Up to date account of seismic data processing in the petroleum geophysics industry. Physics of computation Develops theory of a digital computer as an efficient universal computing device. Plasma physics These two volumes from Nobel Prize winning scientist Irving Langmuir, include his early published papers resulting from his experiments with ionized gases (i.e. plasma). The books summarise many of the basic properties of plasmas. Langmuir coined the word plasma