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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Charles Wilson
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(1869–1959) Scottish physicist who invented the cloud chamber, in which water vapour in a sealed dust-free container is cooled by sudden expansion. It thereby becomes possible to trace the path of particles through the chamber; they ionize the molecules they encounter, leaving a visible line of water droplets (which can be photographed) as evidence of their presence and passage. Wilson had perfected his cloud chamber by 1911, obtaining his first photographs of the tracks left by alpha and beta rays. His invention rapidly advanced the search for subatomic particles (see *Blackett). He shared the 1927 Nobel prize with the American physicist Arthur Compton.
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