Patrick Blackett

LORD PATRICK BLACKETT d1974. British experimental physicist known for his work on cloud chambers, cosmic rays and paleomagnetism. The winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1948. In 1925 he became the first person to prove that radioactivity could cause the nuclear transmutation of one chemical element to another. He also made a major contribution in WW2, advising on military strategy and developing operational research. His left-wing views saw an outlet in third world development and in influencing policy in the Labour Government of the 1960s. He died in London aged 76 on July 13th 1974