English physicist who discovered the kaon (K+) sub-atomic particle in 1954.

Leslie Hodson was born at Fishlake, northeast of Doncaster, on 15 July 1925, the only child of a tenant farmer. The family raised the necessary funds for him to attend Thorne Grammar School, and he went on to read physics at Manchester University from 1943. He undertook research on cosmic rays for his PhD, supervised by P.M. Blackett, and was successively Assistant Lecturer at Manchester, Research Associate at Princeton (1951-54) and Lecturer at Leeds (from 1954). Advising on the design of the new campus in the 1960s he successfully argued for the exclusion of asbestos, in an early recognition of its health risks.

Enjoying a wide range of interests, from art and architecture, via gardening, to music and philosophy, he was a member and sometime Society Steward at Oxford Place Methodist Church, Leeds.

Leslie Hodson married Joyce Wicks in 1958 and they had three sons. He died at Leeds on 1 March 2010.

Entry written by: DCD
Category: Person
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