Powell, Cecil Frank

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Powell, Cecil Frank (1903–69) English physicist. During the 1930s, he developed a technique to record subatomic particles directly onto film. In 1947, he used this method at high altitude to investigate cosmic radiation and discovered a new particle, the pion (pi meson). This discovery supported the theory of nuclear structure proposed by Hideki Yukawa. Powell subsequently discovered the antiparticle of the pion and the decay process of kaons (K mesons). He received the 1950 Nobel Prize in physics.

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