Physics

View a list of Spheres of Influence

Achievements

The following achievements are associated with this Sphere of Influence:

Decommissioning of a Nuclear Reactor for the first time
This successful decommissioning and delicensing of a nuclear reactor was achieved by returning the entire site to brown field status.

Developing robust methods for the detection of irradiated food
The methods and equipment developed for screening foodstuffs for irradiation have become UK and European standards.

Inventing the storage ring for high-energy elementary particles
The storage ring is now the dominant facility for high energy elementary particle physics world-wide, whether in heavy-flavour studies at electron-positron facilities, or at the highest energies using proton - (anti) proton collisions at Fermilab (USA) or CERN Geneva) and electron-proton collisions (DESY, Hamburg).

Invention of the proportional counter
Sir Samuel Curran, a recognised world leader in his field, invented the two basic techniques for the detection of the passage of elementary particles, the scintillation counter, and the proportional counter for the detection of radiation sources.

Invention of the scintillation counter
Sir Samuel Curran, a recognised world leader in his field, invented the two basic techniques for the detection of the passage of elementary particles, the proportional counter, and the scintillation counter to measure a number of different radiations.

Making important contributions to physics especially in electricity, magnetism and thermodynamics
The dominant scientific figure of his time, William Thomson did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second Laws of Thermodynamics and had a career as an electric telegraph engineer and inventor.