Cosmic Rays
Despite the name, cosmic rays are high-speed particles (atomic nuclei or electrons), not part of the electromagnetic spectrum. These were the primary focus of Michael's physics research for most of his career. Not only did he produce primary research in the topic, but he sought to share information with a wide audience through articles, public lectures, and two books.
His research is encapsulated on this bibliography page (with abstracts for nearly every paper). This includes his work at the University of Bristol (UK) as well as at Washington University, especially with balloon campaigns to remote areas such as Palestine, Texas and internal parts of South Africa.
This page has articles about his work, as well as material written by him.
- The St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted grants for Michael's cosmic ray research throughout the 1960s (as well as other money awarded to Washington U.).
Gear Recovered from Big Balloon
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p8 B, 4 Aug 1958. [Click black triangle]
Top section of this entire newspaper page for context, with the charmingly descriptive "Detective hit with pick ax head thrown by fugitive" article.
Balloon payloads could land anywhere, so it was common to have a notice with a phone number, name, and address to contact if this was found in a pasture somewhere. This example is from a July 1960 experiment of Michael's in Nacogdoches, Texas. This Polaroid B&W image shows the dome covering the instrument with many layers of thick corrugated cardboard to cushion the blow of the landing payload and parachute.
- In July/August 1962, Michael led a balloon campaign in Calvinia, South Africa (with a simultaneous set of launches led by Wash Univ colleagues in Minnesota). This generated lots of press coverage in his home country.
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"Washington U. to Launch Space Balloons in Texas"
St. Louis Post-Disptch, 25 April, 1965. - Summer 1965 Wash U Magazine Cosmic Rays
Cover story article about a balloon campaign in Palestine, Texas. - The International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC) was and is an every-other-year scientific meeting held at various places around the world. Michael's first one was the seminal 1953 ICRC, just the third one held. Information about that conference and others is described here.
- In September 1973, during a scientific balloon campaign by Michael and Joe Klarmann in Texas, a special "Event Cover" (definition) with the 1973 8¢ Copernicus postage stamp was issued honoring their flight. The envelope shown here is not a First Day of Issue (that was in April 1973), but is still an unusual item, and is signed by Michael.
- In 1990, Mercury magazine, the journal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) published a long article by Michael which was an excerpt from his book "Cosmic Rays" (published the prior year).
- Around 2000, Encyclopedia Britannica asked Michael to write their article about Cosmic Rays. (More complete information about Michael's writing for Britannica can be found elsewhere on this site.)
- The centennial in 2012 of the discovery of cosmic rays (by Victor Hess in 1912) was marked by coverage in
multiple places.
- Nature magazine asked Michael to write an overview:
Nature: A Century of Cosmic Rays
March 22, 2012 (Vol 483) - A special meeting was held at the University of Denver, and Michael gave a short invited talk:
"Cosmic Rays and the Birth of Particle Physics" in the opening session of Centenary Symposium 2012: Discovery of Cosmic Rays (Denver, June 2012)
- Nature magazine asked Michael to write an overview:
- Two Books: "Cosmic Rays" (1989) and "A Thin Cosmic Rain (2000)
Cosmic Rays: Tracking Particles from Outer Space
Harvard University Press, 1989
A Thin Cosmic Rain: Particles from Outer Space
Harvard University Press, 2000.
