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Table of Contents

Biography

AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjects

Relationships

PeopleInstitutions

Resources

Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as Subject

Cecil Frank Powell

Photo

Dates

December 5, 1903 – August 9, 1969

Authorized Form of Name

Powell, Cecil Frank

Additional Forms of Names

Powell, C. F.

Powell, C. F. (Cecil Frank)

Powell, Cecil Frank, 1903-1969

Biography

Abstract

Cecil Frank Powell won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1950 "for his development of the photographic method of studying nuclear processes and his discoveries regarding mesons made with this method."

Important Dates

December 5, 1903Birth, Tonbridge (England).

1925Obtained BSc degree in Natural Sciences, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge (England).

1925 – 1927Postgraduate Student Assistant, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge (England).

1927Obtained PhD in Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge (England).

1927 – 1969Research assistant, H.H Wills Physical Laboratory (1927); Lecturer; Reader; H. H. Wills Professor of Physics (1948), and Director, H. H. Wills Physical Laboratory (1964), University of Bristol, Bristol (England).

1947Co-authored "Nuclear Physics in Photographs".

1947Honorary Fellow, Physical Society.

1949Awarded Hughes Medal, Royal Society.

1949Fellow, Royal Society.

1950Awarded Novel Prize in Physics "for his development of the photographic method of studying nuclear processes and his discoveries regarding mesons made with this method".

1961Served on Scientific Policy Committee, European Organization for Nuclear Research.

1961Awarded the Royal Medal, Royal Society.

August 9, 1969Death, Bellano (Italy).

Occupation

Particle physicist.

Places

Birth

Tonbridge (England)

Undergraduate Education

Cambridge (England)

Graduate Education

Cambridge (England)

Employment

Bristol (England)

Death

Bellano (Italy)

Subjects

Cosmic radiation.

Nuclear physics.

Particle physics.

Relationships

People

Family

Artner, Isobel Therese

Wife, married 1932.

Powell, Frank

Father.

Advisors & Collaborators

Camerini, Ugo

Advised by Powell at University of Bristol.

Fowler, Peter Howard, 1923-1996

Advised by Powell at University of Bristol.

Friedlander, Michael W.

Advised by Powell at University of Bristol.

King, David T.

Advised by Powell at University of Bristol.

Menon, M. G. K. (Mambillikalathil Govind Kumar), 1928-

Advised by Powell at University of Bristol.

Occhialini, Giuseppe, 1907-1993

Collaborated on book, Nuclear Physics in Photographs.

Perkins, Donald H.

Collaborated on book, The Study of Elementary Particles by the Photographic Methods.

Pinkau, K.

Advised by Powell at University of Bristol.

Rutherford, Ernest, 1871-1937

Advisor at Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge.

Wilson, Charles Thomson Rees, 1869-1959

Advisor at Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge.

Additional

Burhop, E. H. S. (Eric Henry Stoneley)

Lock, W. O.

Peierls, Rudolf E. (Rudolf Ernst), 1907-1995

Perlmutter, Arnold, 1928-

Pniewski, Jerzy

Shapiro, Maurice M. (Maurice Mandel), 1915-

Weisskopf, Victor Frederick, 1908-2002

Institutions

Major Positions

University of Bristol. Department of Physics

Research Assistant, H. H. Wills Physical Laboratory; Lecturer; Reader; H. H. Wills Professor of Physics; and Director, H. H. Wills Physical Laboratory.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

Cavendish Laboratory (Cambridge, England)

Postgraduate Student Assistant.

European Organization for Nuclear Research

Scientific Policy Committee Member.

Physical Society (Great Britain)

Honorary Fellow.

Royal Society (Great Britain)

Fellow, awarded Hughes Medal (1949), and Royal Medal (1961).

Sidney Sussex College (University of Cambridge)

Received BSc degree in Natural Sciences (1925).

University of Cambridge. Department of Physics

Received PhD in Physics (1927).

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Cecil Frank Powell papers and correspondence, 1919-2002.

Arts and Social Sciences Library. Special Collections

University of Bristol

Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 ITJ, England, UK

Subject

Bernard Peters papers, 1947-1992.

Niels Bohr Archive

Niels Bohr Archive

Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark

Jerzy M. Pniewski scientific correspondence and notes, 1951-1989.

Archiwum

Polska Akademia Nauk

Nowy Świat 72, 00-330 Warsaw, Poland

Oral history interview with Arnold Perlmutter, 1999 April 9.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Giuseppe Occhialini, 1971 April 5, 6, May 16, 17, and November 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Maurice Mandel Shapiro, 1978 May 30.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Rudolf Ernst Peierls, 1969 August 11, 12 and 13.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Peter Fowler papers and correspondence, 1940-2002.

Arts and Social Sciences Library. Special Collections

University of Bristol

Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 ITJ, England, UK

Published Resources

Author

Issledovanie elementarnyh častic fotografičeskim metodom : obzor osnovnyh metodov eksperimenta i otkrytij, illûstrirovannyj atlasom mikrofotografij / S. Pauell, P. Fauler, D. Perkins ; per. s angl. A.A. Varfolomeeva, E.I. Dobrohotova i Û.L. Sokolova, pod red. G.B. Ždanova.

Nuclear physics in photographs : tracks of charged particles in photographic emulsions / by C.F. Powell and G.P.S. Occhialini.

Selected papers of Cecil Frank Powell, Nobel laureate, f.r.s. / ed. by E.H.S. Burhop, W.O. Lock and M.G.K. Menon ; with a tribute by Victor F. Weisskopf.

The study of elementary particles by the photographic method : an account of the principal techniques and discoveries, illustrated by an atlas of photomicrographs / by C.F. Powell, P.H. Fowler and D.H. Perkins.

Subject

Cecil Powell Nobel Prize biography.

Cecil Powell Physics Today obituary.