Cosmic Rays

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss cosmic rays. In 1912 the physicist Victor Hess discovered that the Earth is under constant bombardment from radiation coming from outside our atmosphere. These so-called cosmic rays have been known to cause damage to satellites and electronic devices on Earth, but most are absorbed by our atmosphere. The study of cosmic rays and their effects has led to major breakthroughs in particle physics. But today physicists are still trying to establish where these highly energetic subatomic particles come from.

→ Play on BBC Sounds website

Guests

• Carolin Crawford 19 episodes
  Gresham Professor of Astronomy and a member of the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge
• Alan Watson No other episodes
  Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Leeds
• Tim Greenshaw No other episodes
  Professor of Physics at the University of Liverpool

Reading list

• Cosmic Bullets: High Energy Particles in Astrophysics
  Roger Clay (Basic Books, 1999) Google Books →
• The Particle Odyssey: A Journey to the Heart of Matter
  F. Close, M. Marten and C. Sutton (Oxford University Press, 2002) Google Books →
• From Ultra Rays to Astroparticles: A Historical Introduction to Astroparticle Physics
  Brigitte Falkenburg and Wolfgang Rhode (ed.) (Springer, 2012) Google Books →
• Massive: The Higgs Boson and the Greatest Hunt in Science
  Ian Sample (Virgin Books, 2013) Google Books →

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Programme ID: b01sdnkg

Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01sdnkg

Auto-category: 539.7 (Cosmic rays)