Oldenburg And Rogers Look Forward To Communication From Discoverer Of Neutron--Land Work Of Englishmen

"The Cavendish laboratories are among the finest in the world," Otto Oldenberg, professor of Physics, said yesterday, in connection with the recent announcement of the discovery of the neutron at Cambridge, England, "and the reputation of the men working in them is well established, but until scientific proof substantiating such an important theory has reached America, little can be said in way of comment.

"No theory has yet been proposed which adequately explains the penetrating radiations known as cosmic rays," he went on to say "but if the existence of the neutron can be proved, a very plausible solution might be developed."

According to the new theory, the neutron is a close combination of the more familiar parts of atomic structure, the election and the proton. These bear charges of electricity, the former a negative one and the latter a positive. The neutron, being a combination, is thus a neutral cross between both. For this reason, it has been considered very difficult for physicists to prove its existence, since neutrons would pass through ordinary matter without having any magnetic or electrical effects. The gravitational effect of neutrons passing close to some atomic heart or nucleus has been a theoretical possibility for its physical detection.

"The discovery of the neutron particle in the Cavendish Laboratory by James Chadwick is the result of a long search into the field of radio-activity, under the direction of Lord Rutherford. Chadwick and Rutherford have collaborated for many years, and the wealth of scientific material which they have produced has

been regarded as sound and reliable by the foremost scientists of the world." E. M. Rogers, instructor in Physics, said yesterday. Mr. Rogers worked in the famous English laboratory under Lord Rutherford a few years ago. He has the highest opinion of Chadwick's researches, which have been closely related to his own line of work.

The idea of the neutron was put forward formally as an attractive speculation by Dr. R. M. Langer and Dr. N. Rosen of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in a communication to the physical review of the American Physical Society in June 1931. Professor W. Pauli of the Institute of Technology at Zuruch, Switzerland, also suggested the utility of the neutron when he spoke last spring before the American Physical Society. He suggested that the neutron might offer a reasonable explanation of some fine structure in the spectra of elements