Abstract
PROF. P. M. S. BLACKETT, of Birkbeck College, University of London, who succeeds Prof. W. L. Bragg in the Langworthy chair of physics at Manchester, is engaged mainly in work on cosmic rays, and it is fair to say that nearly all the cosmic ray research in Great Britain has been done with his advice or under his direction. Blackett's first important scientific work was the development of the Wilson cloud chamber into an automatic instrument for the study of rare events such as close nuclear collisions and nuclear disintegrations. He investigated the energy and momentum relations in these processes in the Cavendish Laboratory between 1922 and 1932. Following the discovery, by Skobelzyn, of tracks ascribed to cosmic ray particles, Blackett devised the counter-controlled cloud chamber in which the expansion is initiated by the passage of the cosmic particle and the track is formed and photographed before the ions are diffused. The counter controlled chamber placed in a magnetic field allows the measurement of the energy of the particles, and Prof. Blackett has been occupied with this method of investigating the cosmic rays since 1933, using Jatterly the large magnet erected for the purpose for the Royal Society. He had established a school of cosmic ray research at Birkbeck College, and several of his collaborators will continue their work at Manchester. In addition to this main interest, Prof. Blackett has worked on the production and properties of positive electrons and on the specific heats of gases.
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Prof. P. M. S. Blackett, F.R.S. Nature 140, 962 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/140962a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/140962a0