Editing Carl David Anderson (section)

==Biography==
Anderson was born in [[New York City]], the son of Swedish immigrants.  He studied [[physics]] and [[engineering]] at [[Caltech]] ([[Bachelor of Science|B.S.]], 1927; [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]], 1930).  Under the supervision of [[Robert A. Millikan]], he began investigations into [[cosmic rays]] during the course of which he encountered unexpected [[subatomic particle|particle]] tracks in his (modern versions now commonly referred to as an Anderson) [[cloud chamber]] photographs that he correctly interpreted as having been created by a particle with the same mass as the [[electron]], but with opposite [[electrical charge]]. This discovery, announced in 1932 and later confirmed by others, validated [[Paul Dirac]]'s theoretical prediction of the existence of the [[positron]]. Anderson first detected the particles in [[cosmic rays]]. He then produced more conclusive proof  by shooting [[gamma ray]]s produced by the natural radioactive nuclide ThC<nowiki>''</nowiki> ([[Thallium-208|<sup>208</sup>Tl]])<ref>ThC" is a historical designation of <sup>208</sup>Tl, see [[Decay chains]]</ref> into other materials, resulting in the creation of positron-electron pairs. For this work, Anderson shared the 1936 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] with [[Victor Franz Hess|Victor Hess]].<ref>[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1936/ The Nobel Prize in Physics 1936]. nobelprize.org</ref> Fifty years later, Anderson acknowledged that his discovery was inspired by the work of his Caltech classmate [[Chung-Yao Chao]], whose research formed the foundation from which much of Anderson's work developed but was not credited at the time.<ref name="Chinese">{{Cite journal|last=Cao|first=Cong|date=2004|title=Chinese Science and the 'Nobel Prize Complex'|url=http://china-us.uoregon.edu/pdf/Minerva-2004.pdf|journal=Minerva|language=en|volume=42|issue=2|page=154|doi=10.1023/b:mine.0000030020.28625.7e|s2cid=144522961|issn=0026-4695}}</ref>

Also in 1936, Anderson and his first graduate student, [[Seth Neddermeyer]], discovered a [[muon]] (or 'mu-meson', as it was known for many years), a [[subatomic particle]] 207 times more massive than the [[electron]], but with the same negative electric charge and spin 1/2 as the electron, again in [[cosmic rays]].  Anderson and Neddermeyer at first believed that they had seen a [[pion]], a particle which [[Hideki Yukawa]] had postulated in his theory of the [[strong interaction]].  When it became clear that what Anderson had seen was ''not'' the pion, the physicist [[I. I. Rabi]], puzzled as to how the unexpected discovery could fit into any logical scheme of [[particle physics]], quizzically asked "Who ordered ''that''?"  (sometimes the story goes that he was dining with colleagues at a Chinese restaurant at the time).  The [[muon]] was the first of a long list of [[subatomic particles]] whose discovery initially baffled theoreticians who could not make the confusing "zoo" fit into some tidy conceptual scheme. [[Willis Lamb]], in his 1955 Nobel Prize Lecture, joked that he had heard it said that "the finder of a new elementary particle used to be rewarded by a Nobel Prize, but such a discovery now ought to be punished by a 10,000 dollar fine."<ref>Willis E. Lamb, Jr. (December 12, 1955) [https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/lamb-lecture.pdf Fine structure of the hydrogen atom]. ''Nobel Lecture''</ref>

Anderson spent all of his academic and research career at [[Caltech]]. During [[World War II]], he conducted research in [[rocket]]ry there. He was elected to the United States [[National Academy of Sciences]] and the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1938.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Carl D. Anderson |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/58245.html |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Carl+David+Anderson&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> He was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1950.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter A|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterA.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=April 17, 2011}}</ref> He received the [[Elliott Cresson Medal]] of the [[Franklin Institute]] in 1937 and the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] in 1975.<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref> He died on January 11, 1991, in [[San Marino, California]]. His remains were interred in the [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)|Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery]] in [[Los Angeles, California]]. In 1946, he married Lorraine Bergman, with whom he had two sons.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Carl D. Anderson – Biographical|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1936/anderson/biographical/|website=NobelPrize.org}}</ref>