The Early Days of Neutrino Physics

Abstract

This is a birthday party, to celebrate the neutrino reaching what is, from my frame of reference, early middle age. Our celebrations are a little premature because, as the Chairman mentioned, the real birthday is only in December, but this is an accuracy which in this area of physics is surely acceptable. I have been asked to say something about the early history of the neutrino, but you have to accept that I am not a trained historian, and what I have to say will not be a scholarly analysis. My qualification for addressing you is rather that I am one of the relics of old times, someone who was around at the time of the birth of the neutrino, a time when many of you were not born yet. So I shall talk largely about things which I remember; but I cannot rely on memory entirely. You all know how it goes with one’s memory, and whenever one looks back to the original papers, things are a little different from what one thought. Sometimes reading your own writings or letters of 50 years ago can give unexpected surprises. So my remarks will be about what I remember, but with occasional help or correction from the literature.