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C. T. R. Wilson

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Charles Wilson
CH FRS
Wilson in 1927
Born
Charles Thomson Rees Wilson

(1869-02-14)14 February 1869
Glencorse, Scotland, UKGBI
Died15 November 1959(1959-11-15) (aged 90)
Carlops, Scotland, UK
Alma mater
Known forInvention of the cloud chamber
Spouse
Jessie Fraser
​
(m. 1908)​
Children4
Awards
Scientific career
Fields
InstitutionsUniversity of Cambridge
Academic advisorsJ. J. Thomson
Notable students

Charles Thomson Rees Wilson (14 February 1869 – 15 November 1959) was a British meteorologist and physicist who shared the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physics with Arthur Compton for his invention of the cloud chamber.[3]

Early life and education

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Charles Thomson Rees Wilson was born on 14 February 1869 in Glencorse, Scotland, the son of John Wilson, a sheep farmer, and Annie Clark Harper. After his father died in 1873, he moved with his family to Manchester, England.[4]

With financial support from his step-brother, Wilson studied biology at Owens College (now the University of Manchester) with the intent of becoming a doctor. He graduated with a B.Sc. in 1887. He then won a scholarship to attend Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he became interested in physics and chemistry. In 1892, he received First Class Honours in both parts of the Natural Science Tripos.[5][6][4]

Career and research

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Wilson became particularly interested in meteorology, and in 1893 he began to study clouds and their properties. Beginning in 1894, he worked for some time at the observatory on Ben Nevis,[7] where he made observations of cloud formation. He was particularly fascinated by the appearance of glories.[8] He then tried to reproduce this effect on a smaller scale in the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge, expanding humid air within a sealed container.

In 1895, Wilson discovered that at a large enough expansion, ratio supersaturated water vapour condensates even without dust which he removed by previous condensations, contrary to the previous research by John Aitken.[9] Under J. J. Thomson's mentorship by 1896, he found out that X-rays stimulate the condensation just as well as dust.[10]

In 1900, Wilson became a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and was appointed University Lecturer and Demonstrator.[4] He was known by some as a poor lecturer, due to a pronounced stutter.[11] He taught a course on atmospheric electricity as a visiting lecturer at Imperial College London.[12] He was appointed Reader in Electrical Meteorology in 1918 and Jacksonian Professor in 1925.[4]

In 1906, Wilson hypothesised that cosmic radiation generates the ions causing condensation without apparent reasons.[13]

Wilson published numerous papers on meteorology and physics, on topics including X-rays,[14] ionisation,[15] thundercloud formation,[16] and other meteorological events.[8] Wilson may also have observed a sprite in 1924, 65 years before their official discovery.[17] Weather was a focus of his work throughout his career, from his early observations at Ben Nevis to his final paper, on thunderclouds.[18][16]

Cloud chamber

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Wilson's original cloud chamber

The invention of the cloud chamber was by far Wilson's signature accomplishment, earning him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1927.[19] The Cavendish Laboratory praised him for the creation of "a novel and striking method of investigating the properties of ionised gases."[20] The cloud chamber allowed huge experimental leaps forward in the study of subatomic particles and the field of particle physics, generally. Some have credited Wilson with making the study of particles possible at all.[8]

Commemorative plaque at Ben Nevis about the observatory there, and Wilson's cloud chamber

Wilson later experimented with the creation of cloud trails in his chamber by condensation onto ions generated by radioactivity. Several of his cloud chambers survive.[21]

Retrospectively, Wilson's experimental method has received some attention from scholars.

In a period of scientific inquiry characterised by a divide between "analytical" and "morphological" scientists, Wilson's method of inquiry represented a hybrid. While some scientists believed phenomena should be observed in pure nature, others proposed laboratory-controlled experiments as the premier method for inquiry. Wilson used a combination of methods in his experiments and investigations.[22] Wilson's work "made things visible whose properties had only previously been deduced indirectly."[8]

Wilson has been called "almost the last of the great individual experimenters in physics."[11] He used his cloud chamber in various ways to demonstrate the operating principles of things like subatomic particles and X-rays.[14][15] But his primary interest, and the subject of the bulk of his papers, was meteorology.[22]

Personal life and death

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In 1908, Wilson married Jessie Fraser, the daughter of a minister from Glasgow. They had four children. His family knew him as patient and curious, and fond of taking walks in the hills near his home.[17]

Wilson died on 15 November 1959 at his home in Carlops at the age of 90, surrounded by his family.[5]

Recognition

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Memberships

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Country Year Institute Type Ref.
United Kingdom 1900 Royal Society Fellow [23]

Awards

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Country Year Institute Award Citation Ref.
United Kingdom 1911 Royal Society Hughes Medal "For his work on nuclei in dust-free air, and his work on ions in gases and atmospheric electricity" [24]
United Kingdom 1922 Royal Society Royal Medal "For his researches on condensation nuclei and atmospheric electricity" [25]
United States 1925 Franklin Institute Howard N. Potts Medal "Method of making the tracks of ionising rays visible and permanently recording them by photography" [26]
Sweden 1927 Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Nobel Prize in Physics "For his method of making the paths of electrically charged particles visible by condensation of vapour" [3]
United States 1929 Franklin Institute Franklin Medal "Pioneer contributions to atomic physics and to our knowledge of atomic structure" [27]
United Kingdom 1931 Institute of Physics Duddell Medal and Prize [28]
United Kingdom 1935 Royal Society Copley Medal "For his work on the use of clouds in advancing our knowledge of atoms and their properties" [29]

Chivalric orders

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Country Year Monarch Order Citation Ref.
United Kingdom 1937 George VI Order of the Companions of Honour "For services to experimental physics" [30]

Commemorations

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The Wilson crater on the Moon is named after him, Alexander Wilson, and Ralph Elmer Wilson.[31] The Wilson Condensation Cloud formations that occur after large explosions, such as nuclear detonations, are named after him.[32] The Wilson Society—the scientific society of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge—is named in his honour,[33] as is the CTR Wilson Institute for Atmospheric Electricity—the Atmospheric Electricity Special Interest Group of the Royal Meteorological Society.[34]

The archives of C.T.R. Wilson are maintained by the Archives of the University of Glasgow.[35]

in 1996, a blue plaque in Wilson's honour was installed in a specially built cairn at Flotterstone, close to his birthplace at Crosshouse Farm.[36]

In 2012, the Royal Society of Edinburgh held a meeting in honour of Wilson, the "Great Scottish Physicist."[37]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Charles Thomson Rees Wilson - Physics Tree". academictree.org. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Charles Wilson - The Mathematics Genealogy Project". genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  3. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1927". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d "C.T.R. Wilson – Biographical". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 27 July 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  5. ^ a b Longair, Malcolm S. (2006). "Wilson, Charles Thomson Rees (1869–1959)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36950. Retrieved 28 January 2017. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  6. ^ "Wilson, Charles Thomson Rees (WL888CT)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  7. ^ Williams, Earle R. (1 August 2010). "Origin and context of C. T. R. Wilson's ideas on electron runaway in thunderclouds". Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics. 115 (A8) 2009JA014581: A00E50. Bibcode:2010JGRA..115.0E50W. doi:10.1029/2009JA014581. ISSN 2156-2202.
  8. ^ a b c d Brocklehurst, Steven (7 December 2012). "Charles Thomson Rees Wilson: The man who made clouds". BBC News. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  9. ^ Society, Cambridge Philosophical (1895). Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society: Mathematical and physical sciences. Cambridge Philosophical Society.
  10. ^ "The effect of Röntgen's rays on cloudy condensation". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. 59 (353–358): 338–339. 1896. doi:10.1098/rspl.1895.0101. ISSN 0370-1662.
  11. ^ a b Halliday, E.C. (1970). "Some Memories of Prof. C.T.R. Wilson, English Pioneer in work on Thunderstorms and Lightning". Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 51 (12): 1133–1135. Bibcode:1970BAMS...51.1133H. doi:10.1175/1520-0477(1970)051<1133:smopct>2.0.co;2.
  12. ^ Toumi, Ralf (April 2021). "100 Years of meteorology at Imperial College". Weather. 76 (4): 119. Bibcode:2021Wthr...76..119T. doi:10.1002/wea.3951. ISSN 0043-1656. Archived from the original on 19 September 2024. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  13. ^ Williams, Earle R. (August 2010). "Origin and context of C. T. R. Wilson's ideas on electron runaway in thunderclouds". Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics. 115 (A8) 2009JA014581. Bibcode:2010JGRA..115.0E50W. doi:10.1029/2009ja014581. ISSN 0148-0227. Archived from the original on 19 September 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  14. ^ a b Wilson, C. T. R. (1 August 1923). "Investigations on X-Rays and $ \beta $-Rays by the Cloud Method. Part I. X-Rays". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 104 (724): 1–24. Bibcode:1923RSPSA.104....1W. doi:10.1098/rspa.1923.0090. ISSN 1364-5021.
  15. ^ a b Wilson, C. T. R. (9 June 1911). "On a Method of Making Visible the Paths of Ionising Particles through a Gas". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 85 (578): 285–288. Bibcode:1911RSPSA..85..285W. doi:10.1098/rspa.1911.0041. ISSN 1364-5021.
  16. ^ a b Wilson, C. T. R. (2 August 1956). "A Theory of Thundercloud Electricity". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 236 (1206): 297–317. Bibcode:1956RSPSA.236..297W. doi:10.1098/rspa.1956.0137. ISSN 1364-5021. S2CID 98637297.
  17. ^ a b Bowler, Sue (7 December 2012). "C T R Wilson, a Great Scottish Physicist: His Life, Work and Legacy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  18. ^ "C. T. R. Wilson". Physics Today (2) 9306. 2017. Bibcode:2017PhT..2017b9306.. doi:10.1063/pt.5.031417.
  19. ^ Harrison, Giles (1 October 2011). "The cloud chamber and CTR Wilson's legacy to atmospheric science" (PDF). Weather. 66 (10): 276–279. Bibcode:2011Wthr...66..276H. doi:10.1002/wea.830. ISSN 1477-8696. S2CID 2428610. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  20. ^ A history of the Cavendish laboratory 1871–1910.With 3 portraits in a collotype and 8 other illustrations. London. 1910. hdl:2027/coo1.ark:/13960/t0ns19f2h.
  21. ^ Phillipson, Tacye (December 2016). "Surviving Apparatus Showing the Early Development of the Cloud Chamber". Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society.
  22. ^ a b Gooding, David; Pinch, Trevor; Schaffer, Simon (18 May 1989). The Uses of Experiment: Studies in the Natural Sciences. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521337687. Archived from the original on 19 September 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  23. ^ "Search past Fellows". Royal Society. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  24. ^ "Hughes Medal". Royal Society. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  25. ^ "Royal Medal". Royal Society. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015.
  26. ^ "Charles Thomson Rees Wilson". Franklin Institute. Archived from the original on 29 March 2025. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  27. ^ "Charles Thomson Rees Wilson". Franklin Institute. Archived from the original on 6 June 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  28. ^ "Dennis Gabor Medal and Prize recipients". Institute of Physics. Archived from the original on 14 August 2025. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  29. ^ "Copley Medal". Royal Society. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  30. ^ "No. 34396". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 May 1937. p. 3100.
  31. ^ "Planetary Names: Crater, craters: Wilson on Moon". planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  32. ^ Glasstone, Samuel; Dolan, Philip J., eds. (1977). The effects of nuclear weapons (3rd ed.). Washington: U.S. Department of Defense. p. 45. hdl:2027/uc1.31822004829784.
  33. ^ "About | Wilson Society". www.srcf.ucam.org. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  34. ^ CTR Wilson Institute for Atmospheric Electricity
  35. ^ "Papers of Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, 1869–1959, Nobel Prize winner and Professor of Natural Philosophy, University of Cambridge – Archives Hub". Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  36. ^ "Blue plaques in Scotland". Institute of Physics. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
  37. ^ Aplin, Karen L. (1 April 2013). "CTR Wilson – Honouring a Great Scottish Physicist". Weather. 68 (4): 96. Bibcode:2013Wthr...68...96A. doi:10.1002/wea.2095. ISSN 1477-8696.
[edit]
  • Media related to Charles Thomson Rees Wilson at Wikimedia Commons
  • C.T.R. Wilson on Nobelprize.org Edit this at Wikidata
  • The Papers of C. T. R. Wilson held at Churchill Archives Centre
Academic offices
Preceded by Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy
1925–1934 		Succeeded by
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