May 24, 2019 – Death of Murray Gell-Mann, Nobel Prize who coined the term quark and classified elementary particles

This American physicist proposed, in 1961, a scheme to arrange in groups of eight and ten the more than 100 elementary particles that mathematical theories or observed in experiments with particle accelerators predicted would be inside the atomic nucleus. The "Eightfold Way" or eightfold path, which Gell-Mann called poetically the eightfold path of Buddhism, is the path that leads to enlightenment.

His theory brought order to the chaos that arose when particles were discovered, and his system classified subatomic particles such as protons, neutrons, mesons, and baryons, into groups with similar and related properties. This not only helped to describe the interactions between the particles but also made it possible to predict the existence of others not yet known.

In 1969, he received the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discoveries about elementary particles.

Based on his system, Gell-Mann predicted the existence of another hypothetical particle composed of protons and neutrons, called a quark. The name was taken from the comic novel "Finnegans Wake" by Irish author James Joyce.

The existence of the particle was verified years later in experiments with particle accelerators.

If you want to know more about this scientist, click on the following link: Murray Gell-Mann