Probably the greatest English physicist since Sir Isaac
Newton, Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac was born on 8 August 1902 in
Bristol. His father Charles came to England from Geneva and
married Florence Holten. After studying electrical engineering at
Bristol University Paul eventually obtained a place at St John's
College, Cambridge, later becoming Lucasian Professor of
Mathematics and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He developed his
own version of quantum theory and was awarded the Nobel Prize for
Physics and the Order of Merit. He married Margit Balazs and had
two daughters. For many years he was a research professor in
Florida USA; he died on 20 October 1984 at Tallahassee, where he
is buried.
On 13 November 1995 a memorial stone was unveiled in the nave
near Newton's monument. The inscription on the stone also
includes the "Dirac equation", describing the behaviour of the
electron: "1902 P.A.M. DIRAC O.M. PHYSICIST 1984"
A photograph of the stone can be purchased from Westminster
Abbey Library.
Further reading:
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004.