In 1948, Raymond Davis Jr. was working at Brookhaven National Laboratories on Long Island, NY. A chemist by training, he began to take an interest in neutrino physics and particularly the process of beta decay that emitted them. He quickly became one of the early pioneers of neutrino research, and it was he who devised some of the first chemical neutrino detectors. In particular, the Homestake experiment, led by Davis and colleague John N. Bahcall, was the first to detect neutrinos coming from the sun utilizing a 100,000 gallon tank of dry-cleaning fluid buried deep underground.

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This program is part of The Big Idea Series, made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation.

Photo courtesy of Brookhaven National Laboratories; Recorded June 2012; Posted June 2012