Werner Karl Heisenberg (December 5,1901 - February 1, 1976) was a German theoretical physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics "for the creation of quantum mechanics" in 1932. In 1925, Heisenberg, along with Max Born and Pascual Jordan, set forth the matrix formulation of quantum mechanics. In 1927 he published his uncertainty principle, which is now one of the central principles of modern physics. He also made important contributions to the theories of the hydrodynamics of turbulent flows, the atomic nucleus, ferromagnetism, cosmic rays, and subatomic particles, and he was instrumental in planning the first West German nuclear reactor. Considerable controversy surrounds his work on atomic research during World War II. Heisenberg died of cancer of the kidneys and gall bladder in 1976 at the age of 74.