Professor Peter Higgs gained notoriety mostly for the enigmatic entity known as the "God particle," or more accurately, the Higgs boson.
He had the ground-breaking theory in the 1960s while he was trying to figure out why atoms, the fundamental units of the universe, have mass.
His idea of the material that unites the universe, which was investigated concurrently by other scientists, set off a 50-year quest for the pinnacle of physics.
Using the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (Cern) in Switzerland, scientists made the final discovery of the particle in 2012. It finished what is known as particle physics' standard model.
Known for his shyness, he once said to reporters, "It's very nice to be right sometimes."
A year later, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contribution.
1929 saw the birth of Peter Higgs in Newcastle upon Tyne. He was an excellent student in Bristol who received awards for his scientific work, however it was in chemistry rather than physics.
He earned his PhD at King's College in London, but his friend beat him for a position there. Rather, he proceeded to the University of Edinburgh, where he persisted in posing the query: why do certain particles possess mass?
Although few people understood his hypothesis, it failed to find a home in scientific journals until it was eventually published in 1964.
He said his hypothesis took years to form, despite rumors of "Eureka" moments.
The identical concept was the subject of publications at the time from two additional scientific groups.
However, the particle was dubbed the Higgs boson, and for half a century, researchers searched for it with some of the most advanced tools available.
After leaving the University of Edinburgh in 2006, Prof. Higgs kept an eye on developments at Cern in Geneva, where researchers were using the Large Hadron Collider to search for the Higgs boson.
The $10 billion particle accelerator was the most potent to date. It was thought to be the device that would either support or contradict Higgs's theory.
The boson was dubbed the "God particle" by the media, following in the footsteps of Nobel winner Leon Lederman's book. Scientists disagree with the word because they believe that evidence-based physics does not include religion.
The Higgs boson was finally found in 2012, much to the excitement of Cern physicists.
"Peter should come to the CERN seminar or he will regret it," was the warning sent out in advance. He rearranged his itinerary to visit Geneva in time for the breathtaking revelation.
"It's been a long wait but it might have been even longer, I might not have been still around," Higgs stated. "At the beginning I had no idea whether a discovery would be made in my lifetime."
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences attempted to contact him a year later. It has become a common occurrence for winners to miss the important phone call informing them of their Nobel Prize acceptance. However, Peter Higgs was not even a smartphone owner. He was not present when the news was made.
He was approached by a neighbor in the street who informed him of his victory, together with Belgian physicist Francois Englert.
Primarily recognized for the boson, he was also regarded for his modest and reserved demeanor, prioritizing his artistic endeavors over notoriety.
Ken Peach, an emeritus professor at Oxford, spoke of his experience returning from a conference where scientists were always bringing up Peter Higgs.
"I said, 'Hey Peter!' when I spotted him in the coffee lounge. You're well-known!" He smiled diffidently in return.
Furthermore, according to several friends, Peter Higgs did not have the kind of influence one might anticipate from a physicist of his caliber.
"I wouldn't say he was shy," Prof. Michael Fisher (2021–2021) stated.
"I might say that he was a little too retiring perhaps for the good of his own career."