Cesar Lattes; Brazilian physicist
Hyfler/Rosner
at age 80
DATELINE: SAO PAULO, Brazil
AP
Cesar Lattes, one of Brazil's most important physicists
known for his work with subatomic particles has died. He was
80.
The Hospital das Clinicas of the University of Campinas said
Lattes died Tuesday afternoon of a heart attack.
Born July 11, 1924 in the southern city of Curitiba, Lattes
studied physics at the University of Sao Paulo, where he
also taught for many years.
As an associate professor at the University of Bristol, he
worked with British physicist Cecil Frank Powell between
1946 and 1947, helping him develop a photographic method for
studying nuclear processes. For his work, Powell won the
Nobel Prize in physics in 1950.
Working with Powell and Italian physicist Giuseppe
Occhialini, Lattes confirmed the existence of a subatomic
particle known as a pi meson that holds the protons and
neutrons of an atom's nucleus together.
Lattes, whose wife Martha died last year, is survived by
four daughters and nine grandchildren.