WILSON, C.T.R. - THE IMPROVED VERSION OF "WILSONS CLOUD-CHAMBER".

On a Method of making Visible the Paths of Ionising Particles through a Gas.

London, Harrison and Sons, 1911. Small 4to. Contemp. full cloth. Spine gilt and with gilt lettering. A stamp to verso of titlepage and a few other leaves. In: "Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A.", Vol. LXXXV. XXIII,605,XXIV pp. and 11 plates. (Entire volume offered). Wilson's paper: pp. 285-288 a. 1 plate. Clean and fine.

First appearance of the paper which describes the final version of his invention, the famous Cloud-Chamber, - the first Cloud Chamber was invented by him in 1896 - for making visible and photographing the paths of charged particles, an invention for which Wilson received a share of the Nobel Prize in 1827. By using the Cloud Chamber he was here (1911) able to observe the track of an alpha ray by condensing water drops onto the ions produced by its passage.

The Cloud Chamber, which Rutherford called "the most original apparatus in the whole history of physics", became standard equipment in physics laboratories, and made possible numerous important discoveries in the fields of particle and nuclear physics

After 1896 "Wilson continued to experiment with ultraviolet radiation and other techniques for producing condensation effects, but soon concentrated on atmospheric electricity, not returning to the cloud chamber until December 1910. He designed an improved chamber with new methods of illumination and the possibility of photographing the results. At this time Wilson realized that it might be possible to reveal the track of an a ray by condensing water drops onto the ions produced by its passage. During March 1911 he saw this effect produced in his apparatus. Thus, the elucidation of phenomena seen in the Scottish hills led to the possibility of studying the processes of radioactivity, and the Wilson cloud chamber became an important piece of laboratory equipment. But it was in the study of cosmic rays that it achieved its full power, particularly in the refined form developed by Patrick Blackett, in which it was possible to study particles of very high energy and the production of electron-positron pairs with the chamber situated in a strong magnetic field." (DSB).

Order-nr.: 46922