1 The discovery of the cosmic radiation 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Terrestrial radioactivity and first experiences with electroscopes 1.3 Investigations in the atmosphere 1.4 Victor Hess and the evidence for an extraterrestrial radiation 1.5 Towards a confirmation of Hess''s results 2 Confirmation of the existence of a cosmic radiation 2.1 Further investigations in Europe during and after the First World War 2.2 Robert Millikan and the first US contributions to cosmic ray physics 2.
3 The acceptance of the idea of a cosmic radiation 3 The nature of the cosmic radiation 3.1 The influence of the Earth''s magnetic field 3.2 Campaigns for measuring the intensity of cosmic radiation in various geographical locations 3.3 The debate on the corpuscular or radiative nature of cosmic radiation 3.4 Further contributions in Europe and other countries for understanding the nature of cosmic radiation 3.5 Protons as an essential component of primary radiation? 4 New particles and links with cosmic radiation 4.1 The discovery of new particles and the links with the understanding of cosmic radiation 4.2 The properties of the μ mesons 4.
3 The discovery of the pion 4.4 The discovery of the neutron 5 The developments of the first techniques for the detection of cosmic radiation 5.1 Introduction 5.2 From Wulf''s electroscopes to automatic recording equipment 5.3 Ionization chambers 5.4 Proportional counters 5.5 Wilson cloud chamber 5.6 The Geiger-Müller counters 5.
7 Electronics and coincidence techniques 5.8 Nuclear emulsions 5.9 Detectors based on scintillators 6 The interaction of primary cosmics in the atmosphere 6.1 The first evidence of nuclear interactions of cosmic rays 6.2 Interactions in the atmosphere and first evidence of a complex primary radiation 6.3 Production of other particles in nuclear interactions 6.4 The role of high-altitude laboratories 7 Extensive air showers 7.1 Secondary processes and local showers 7.
2 First evidence of the existence of extensive atmospheric showers 7.3 An "operational" definition and the first properties of extensive air showers 7.4 Towards a more complete description of the formation of extensive air showers 7.5 The study of atmospheric showers since the 1940s 7.6 The longitudinal development of an air shower 7.7 The transverse development of an air shower 7.8 The time profile of an air shower 8 The detection of extensive air showers 8.1 Direct and indirect methods 8.
2 Arrays of particle detectors 8.3 Arrays based on the Cerenkov effect 8.4 Fluorescence detectors 8.5 Detection of radio waves associated with extended showers 8.6 An example of reconstruction of extensive air showers in the 1950s 8.7 Arrays for the reconstruction of extensive air showers 9 The primary cosmic radiation 9.1 Introduction 9.2 The hadronic component and the energy spectrum 9.
3 The composition of the hadronic component 9.4 Electrons and positrons 9.5 Other components in the primary radiation 9.6 The intensity of primary radiation at different altitudes 9.7 Possible anisotropies in the primary radiation 10 The secondary cosmic radiation 10.1 Composition of the secondary radiation 10.2 Muons 10.3 Electrons 10.
4 Gammas 10.5 Charged hadrons 10.6 Neutrons 10.7 Nuclei 11 The influence of the Earth 11.1 Introduction 11.2 The interaction with the atmosphere and meteorological effects 11.3 Influence of the Earth''s magnetic field 11.4 Angular distribution of muons and East-West effect 11.
5 The latitude effect 11.6 Other influences on the cosmic ray flux due to the Earth environment 12 The secondary cosmic radiation and the influence of the Sun 12.1 Introduction 12.2 Periodic phenomena in the Sun and solar cycles 12.3 Modulation of the cosmic ray flux due to the Sun 12.4 Forbush variations 12.5 Other effects related to solar activity 13 Interaction of muons with matter 13.1 Introduction 13.
2 Energy loss of muons 13.3 Range of muons in matter 13.4 Multiple scattering 14 Cosmic radiations underground, under water and under the ice 14.1 Introduction 14.2 Measurements underground 14.3 Measurements under water and under the ice 15 The origin of cosmic rays 15.1 Introduction 15.2 Some historical considerations about the acceleration mechanisms and the origin of cosmic rays 15.
3 The Fermi acceleration mechanism 15.4 The role of supernovae 15.5 The high-energy extragalactic component 16 The impact of cosmic rays in applications and in daily life 16.1 Introduction 16.2 Production of radioactive isotopes by cosmics and dating techniques 16.3 Cosmic ray dating outside the Earth 16.4 The radiation dose produced by cosmic rays on Earth and in the solar system 16.5 Electronics and the effect of cosmic radiation 16.
6 Muons and the origin of tomographic techniques 16.7 Tomographic techniques based on the absorption of cosmic muons 16.8 Muon tomography and scattering from materials with a high atomic number 16.9 Imaging techniques based on the production of secondary particles 16.10 Monitoring the stability of buildings by tracking cosmic muons 16.11 Other possible applications of muon tomography 16.12 The impact of cosmics on cloud formation 16.13 Using extended atmospheric showers in time synchronization Appendices A1.
A calculation of the flux at the top of the Eiffel Tower due to soil radioactivity A2. The absorption coefficient in water and the directionality of cosmics. Millikan''s calculation. A3. Geographic and geomagnetic latitude A4. The magnetic rigidity of particles A5. The energy loss of charged particles and the estimate of the muon mass A6. List of high-altitude observation stations in the mid-1950s A7: An estimate of the particle density in an extensive air shower A8.
The relationship between altitude and atmospheric depth A9. Gaisser-Hillas parameterization of the longitudinal profile of a shower A10. The thickness of air crossed by a particle in the atmosphere A11. Evaluation of the shower direction from the relative timing of several detectors A12. Parameterizations of the muon spectrum at sea level A12. The flux of underground muons A13. Detection of bit-flip errors originated by cosmics.