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Chadwick, James

Chadwick, James

This article has been reviewed by the following Topic Editor: Tom Lawrence

James Chadwick (1891-1974), an English physicist, discovered the neutron in 1932 and subsequently published a paper titled Possible Existence of Neutron. In 1935, he received the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the neutron. Werner Heisenberg soon showed that the neutron was a unique particle—the third piece of the atom to be found. This new idea dramatically changed the picture of the atom and accelerated discoveries in atomic physics. Physicists discovered that the neutron made an ideal "bullet" for bombarding other nuclei. Before long, neutron bombardment was applied to the uranium atom, splitting its nucleus and releasing the huge amounts of energy predicted by Einstein's equation E = mc2.

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Citation

Cutler J. Cleveland (Lead Author);Tom Lawrence (Topic Editor) "Chadwick, James". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth August 3, 2007; Last revised Date August 3, 2007; Retrieved May 22, 2013 <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Chadwick,_James>

The Author

Cutler J. Cleveland Cutler J. Cleveland  is Professor of Earth and Environment at Boston University, where he also is on the faculty of the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies. Professor Cleveland is Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Energy (Elsevier, 2004), winner of an American Library Association award, the Dictionary of Energy (Elsevier, 2005), Handbook of Energy (Elsevier, forthcoming), and is the Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Earth.  He is the recipient of the Adelma ... (Full Bio)

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