98-year-old pioneering physicist receives doctorate, 75 years after groundbreaking discovery

Rosemary Fowler, a pioneering female physicist from the UK, has been honoured with a doctorate, some 75 years after she made a groundbreaking discovery. Fowler was a 22-year-old doctoral researcher at the University of Bristol in 1948 when she discovered the Kaon particle, which helped lead to a revolution in the theory of particle physics. Her discovery continues to be proven correct, predicting particles such as the Higgs boson, discovered at CERN in Geneva.

University of Bristol

Discovery of Kaon particle

Her discovery also contributed to Cecil Powell’s Nobel Prize for Physics in 1950. In 1948, the cosmic ray physics team, led by Professor Cecil Powell, was hunting for new fundamental particles when Fowler noticed unusual particle tracks in photographic emulsions that had been exposed to cosmic rays at high altitude on the Jungfraujoch, Switzerland. She spotted something remarkable—a particle that decayed into three pions. She recognized it as a candidate for the decay of a new particle, which was later named Kaon.

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University of Bristol

Why she couldn't complete PhD

However, Fowler, who was married to fellow PhD student and future husband Peter Fowler, left the university in 1949 without completing her doctoral research to take care of her family. Now, 75 years later, Fowler has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Bristol for her pioneering work.

University of Bristol

Honorary doctorate?

She was conferred the honorary doctorate by University of Bristol Chancellor Sir Paul Nurse in a private graduation ceremony, attended by all Rosemary’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, many of whom are scientists, close to her Cambridge home. Fowler said she feels “very honoured,” adding humbly, “but I haven’t done anything since to deserve special respect.”

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University of Bristol

Sir Paul, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, praised Rosemary’s “intellectual rigour and curiosity” and said she “paved the way for critical discoveries that continue to shape the work of today’s physicists and our understanding of the universe.”

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