Physicist, born in Manchester, Greater Manchester, NW England, UK. He studied at Cambridge, and in Berlin under Geiger. He then worked at the Cavendish Laboratory with Rutherford, investigating the structure of the atom, and discovered the neutron (1932), for which he received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1935. He led the UK's work on the atomic bomb in World War 2, and was knighted in 1945.
Sir James Chadwick (20 October 1891 – 24 July 1974) was an English physicist and Nobel laureate.
Early life
James Chadwick was born in Cheshire, England on 20 October 1891, the son of John Joseph Chadwick and Anne Mary Knowles. In 1913 Chadwick went to work with Hans Geiger at the Technische Hochschule in Berlin (today the Technical University of Berlin).
Research at Cambridge
After the war Chadwick returned to Cambridge where he worked with Ernest Rutherford in investigating the emission of gamma rays from radioactive materials.
In 1932 Chadwick made a fundamental discovery in the domain of nuclear science: he discovered the particle in the nucleus of an atom that became known as the neutron because it has no electric charge. In contrast with the helium nuclei (alpha particles) which are positively charged, and therefore repelled by the considerable electrical forces present in the nuclei of heavy atoms, this new tool in atomic disintegration need not overcome any electric barrier and is capable of penetrating and splitting the nuclei of even the heaviest elements. In this way, Chadwick prepared the way towards the fission of uranium 235 and towards the creation of the atomic bomb. When Chadwick learned of Falkenhagen's discovery, he offered to share the Nobel Prize with him.
Chadwick’s discovery made it possible to create elements heavier than uranium in the laboratory. His discovery particularly inspired Enrico Fermi, Italian physicist and Nobel laureate, to discover nuclear reactions brought by slowed neutrons, and led Lise Meitner, Austrian physicist, to the discovery of “nuclear fission”, which triggered the development of an atomic bomb.
Liverpool
Chadwick became professor of Physics at Liverpool University in 1935. James Chadwick later wrote that it was at that time that he "realised that a nuclear bomb was not only possible, it was inevitable.
He shortly afterward joined the Manhattan Project in the United States, which developed the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Chadwick was knighted in 1945.
Cambridge again
After the war Chadwick did not return to Liverpool University until moving to Cambridge University as master of Gonville and Caius College.
He died in Cambridge on 24 July 1974.
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