Wilson, Charles Thomson Rees

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Charles Thomson Rees Wilson

Charles Thomson Rees Wilson CH (February 14, 1869 – November 15, 1959) was a Scottish physicist.

He was born in the parish of Glencorse, Midlothian, near Edinburgh, Scotland, to a farmer, John Wilson, and his mother Annie Clerk Harper. After his father died in 1873, his family moved to Manchester. He was educated at Owen's College from 1884 to 1888, studying biology with the intent to become a physician. He then went to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge where he became interested in physics and chemistry. He remained there from 1888 to 1894, earning a master's degree in 1892.

Wilson became particularly interested in meteorology after his admission to Cambridge, and in 1893 he began to study clouds and their properties. He worked for some time at the observatory on Ben Nevis, and was particulary impressed by the beautiful play of colors and effects from the interaction between the sunlight and the cloud cover surrounding the mountain's summit. He tried to reproduce this effect on a smaller scale in the laboratory in Cambridge, expanding humid air within a sealed container. Usually the nucleus of condensation for saturated gas is a piece of dust. But Wilson noticed that, even when he eliminated the dust, condensation still occurred under certain circumstances, primarily that the expanded volume be 1.25 of the original volume. He suspected that the condensation nucleii were ions, and reported his results to the Cambridge Philosophical Society in May of 1995. He then exposed the chamber to X-rays, and noticed that the degree of condensation was considerably enhanced, thus re-enforcing his original conjecture, since X-rays were already known for their quality of ionizing a gas.

In 1895 Wilson joined the Cavendish Laboratory, and in 1896 was appointed Clerk Maxwell Student at Cambridge, allowing him to devote the next three years to research on the cloud chamber. He continued his experiments, noting that when the enclosed supersaturated gas was exposed to an electric field, no clouds formed, thus affirming his original conjecture that ions of molecular dimensions caused clouds to form. He reported his results in a series of papers until 1900, when his investigations turned to atmospheric electricity.

In 1900, Wilson became a teaching fellow at Sindey Sussex College, while continuing to lecture in Physics at the Cavendish Labboratory.

He married Jessie Fraser in 1908, the daughter of a minister from Glasgow, and the couple had four children.

As his responsibilities increased over the years, he tended to have less time to devote to research. But in 1910, he returned to his original research, and in 1911 he experimented to see if the tracks of charged particles would become visible through their condensation tracks within the cloud chamber. Wilson first tried X-rays, and noted that the paths of electrons formed by x-ray exitation immediately became visible. He then introduced radioactive materials, and found that he could identify the paths of alpha and beta rays they emitted. Wilson reported these effects, including photographs of the same, to the Royal Society. After completing the construction of an improved apparatus, he reported further results to the society in 1912.

Tracks left by alpha rays closely matched diagrams of the paths postulated for these particles and published by William H. Bragg, who later went on to win a Nobel prize for his work in X-ray crystallography. Wilson enhanced the images of the paths of charged particles in his cloud chamber through stereophotography, which presents a three-dimensional image of the phenomena.

Wilson received an appointment as an observer at the Cambridge Solar Physics Observatory in 1913. He was able to continue his research in this position. But at the outbreak of World War I, his research came to a temporary halt.

In 1918, he left his position with the Cavendish laboratory, becoming a reader in electrical meteorology. He began making contributions in meteorological research. One of his conclusions was that thunderclouds were, on average, positively charged, and that, as a result, the earth was generally negatively charged. <<<Rakov, Vladimir A., and Martin A. Uman. 2003. Lightning: physics and effects. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052158327673. 73.>>>

It was not until 1921 that Wilson fully resumed his work on cloud chamber physics. He published new results in 1923 with the new cloud chamber he had built before the war which included a new series of photographs of the paths of alpha and beta particles and the results of their collision with metal barriers. These photographs, and their analysis, vindicated the views of Arthur Holly Compton, who had earlier demonstrated that the frequency of X-rays change in the process of energizing electrons. Sometimes the electrons may change their direction, and the change in energy and direction of the X-ray can be calculated.

Compton's result meant that the phenomena associated with X-rays cannot be fully accounted for by the wave model of electromagnetic waves, and that the so-called "Compton scattering"—the change in direction of both the electron and the photon after a collision—demonstrates that X-rays have the characteristics of a particle.

Wilson and Compton shared the Nobel prize in 1927, Wilson for his method of making the paths of electrically charged particles visible.

In 1925, Wilson was appointed Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy at Cambridge University, a position he held until 1934. He retired from Cambridge in 1936, moving to Edinburgh, but remaining active in scientific work. During World War II, he assisted the war effort by investigating ways of protecting war materiel from lightning. Much of his later research dealt with the subject of electricity in the atmosphere. In his later years, he moved to Carlops, Scotland, where he died on November 15, 1959.

The Wilson crater on the Moon is co-named for him, Alexander Wilson and Ralph Elmer Wilson.

The Wilson Society, the natural sciences society of Sidney Sussex College, is also named for him.

Honors

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Asimov, Isaac. 1982. Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. Garden City: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-17771-2.
Lundqvist, Stig. 1992. Physics 1971-1980. Nobel lectures, including presentation speeches and laureates' biographies. Singapore: World Scientific. 167-199. ISBN 9810207263.
Angelo, Joseph A. 2004. Nuclear technology. Sourcebooks in modern technology. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. 106-108. ISBN 1573563366.

External link

Charles Thomson Rees Wilson's biography

Credits

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@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 Wilson received an appointment as an observer at the Cambridge Solar Physics Observatory in 1913. He was able to continue his research in this position. But at the outbreak of World War I, his research came to a temporary halt.
-In 1918, he left his position with the Cavendish laboratory, and it was not until 1921 that Wilson fully resumed his work on cloud chamber physics. He published new results in 1923 with the new cloud chamber he had built before the war which included a new series of photographs of the paths of alpha and beta particles and the results of their collision with metal barriers. These photographs, and their analysis, vindicated the views of ____ Compton, who had earlier demonstrated that the frequency of X-rays change in the process of energizing electrons. Sometimes the electrons may change their direction, and the change in energy and direction of the X-ray can be calculated.
+In 1918, he left his position with the Cavendish laboratory, becoming a reader in electrical meteorology. He began making contributions in meteorological research. One of his conclusions was that thunderclouds were, on average, positively charged, and that, as a result, the earth was generally negatively charged. <<<Rakov, Vladimir A., and Martin A. Uman. 2003. Lightning: physics and effects. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052158327673. 73.>>>
+It was not until 1921 that Wilson fully resumed his work on cloud chamber physics. He published new results in 1923 with the new cloud chamber he had built before the war which included a new series of photographs of the paths of alpha and beta particles and the results of their collision with metal barriers. These photographs, and their analysis, vindicated the views of Arthur Holly Compton, who had earlier demonstrated that the frequency of X-rays change in the process of energizing electrons. Sometimes the electrons may change their direction, and the change in energy and direction of the X-ray can be calculated.
 Compton's result meant that the phenomena associated with X-rays cannot be fully accounted for by the wave model of electromagnetic waves, and that the so-called "Compton scattering"—the change in direction of both the electron and the photon after a collision—demonstrates that X-rays have the characteristics of a particle.
@@ Line 28: / Line 30: @@
 Wilson and Compton shared the Nobel prize in 1927, Wilson for his method of making the paths of electrically charged particles visible.
-In 1925, Wilson was appointed Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy at Cambridge University, a position he held until 1934. He retired from Cambridge in 1936, moving to Edinburgh, but remaining active in scientific work. During World War II, he assisted the war effort by investigating ways of protecting war materiel from lightning. Much of his later research dealt with the subject of electricity in the atmosphere. In his later years, he moved to Carlops, Scotland, where he died on
+In 1925, Wilson was appointed Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy at Cambridge University, a position he held until 1934. He retired from Cambridge in 1936, moving to Edinburgh, but remaining active in scientific work. During World War II, he assisted the war effort by investigating ways of protecting war materiel from lightning. Much of his later research dealt with the subject of electricity in the atmosphere. In his later years, he moved to Carlops, Scotland, where he died on November 15, 1959.
-, and they included
-In late 1896, Wilson became
-Wilson continued experimenting .
- He died near [[Edinburgh]], surrounded by his family.
 The [[Wilson (crater)|Wilson crater]] on the [[Moon]] is co-named for him, [[Alexander Wilson (mathematician)|Alexander Wilson]] and [[Ralph Elmer Wilson]].
 The Wilson Society, the natural sciences society of Sidney Sussex College, is also named for him.
+===Honors===
 == See also ==