<P> Quantization is one of the foundations of the much broader physics of quantum mechanics . Quantization of the energy and its influence on how energy and matter interact (quantum electrodynamics) is part of the fundamental framework for understanding and describing nature . </P> <P> The word quantum comes from the Latin quantus, meaning "how great". "Quanta", short for "quanta of electricity" (electrons), was used in a 1902 article on the photoelectric effect by Philipp Lenard, who credited Hermann von Helmholtz for using the word in the area of electricity . However, the word quantum in general was well known before 1900 . It was often used by physicians, such as in the term quantum satis . Both Helmholtz and Julius von Mayer were physicians as well as physicists . Helmholtz used quantum with reference to heat in his article on Mayer's work, and the word quantum can be found in the formulation of the first law of thermodynamics by Mayer in his letter dated July 24, 1841 . Max Planck used quanta to mean "quanta of matter and electricity", gas, and heat . In 1905, in response to Planck's work and the experimental work of Lenard (who explained his results by using the term quanta of electricity), Albert Einstein suggested that radiation existed in spatially localized packets which he called "quanta of light" ("Lichtquanta"). </P> <P> The concept of quantization of radiation was discovered in 1900 by Max Planck, who had been trying to understand the emission of radiation from heated objects, known as black - body radiation . By assuming that energy can only be absorbed or released in tiny, differential, discrete packets he called "bundles" or "energy elements", Planck accounted for certain objects changing colour when heated . On December 14, 1900, Planck reported his findings to the German Physical Society, and introduced the idea of quantization for the first time as a part of his research on black - body radiation . As a result of his experiments, Planck deduced the numerical value of h, known as the Planck constant, and could also report a more precise value for the Avogadro--Loschmidt number, the number of real molecules in a mole and the unit of electrical charge, to the German Physical Society . After his theory was validated, Planck was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery in 1918 . </P> <P> While quantization was first discovered in electromagnetic radiation, it describes a fundamental aspect of energy not just restricted to photons . In the attempt to bring theory into agreement with experiment, Max Planck postulated that electromagnetic energy is absorbed or emitted in discrete packets, or quanta . </P>

Who discovered that energy travels in discrete units that he called quanta