* Astronomy

The Scottish physicist Charles Thomson Rees Wilson (14 February 1869 - 15 November 1959) was the inventor and developer of the Wilson cloud chamber. Charles Wilson was born on Feb. 14, 1869, in Glencorse near Edinburgh.
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The cloud chamber, also known as the Wilson chamber, is used for detecting particles of ionising radiation. In its most basic form, a cloud chamber is a sealed environment containing a supersaturated vapour of water or alcohol. When an alpha or beta particle interacts with the mixture, it ionises it. The resulting ions act as condensation nuclei, around which a mist will form (because the mixture is on the point of condensation). The high energies of alpha and beta particles mean that a trail is left, due to many ions being produced along the path of the charged particle.
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