Editing North West England (section)

===Scientific heritage===
{{see also|Science and engineering in Manchester|List of British innovations and discoveries}}
Sir [[Ernest Marsden]] (of Blackburn) and [[Hans Geiger]] conducted the [[Geiger–Marsden experiment]] at the University of Manchester in 1909, where the [[Geiger counter]] was invented, which demonstrated the existence of the [[atomic nucleus]]. Sir [[J. J. Thomson]] of Cheetham Hill discovered the electron (given its name in 1891 by [[George Johnstone Stoney]]) in April 1897 and received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1906; his son [[George Paget Thomson]] would win the Nobel Prize for Physics 1937 for discovering [[electron diffraction]] (at the University of Aberdeen). [[John Dalton]], from Cumbria and moved to Manchester, developed [[atomic theory]]. [[William Sturgeon]] of Lancashire invented the [[electromagnet]] in 1825.

[[Sydney Chapman (mathematician)|Sydney Chapman]], a mathematician from [[Eccles, Greater Manchester|Eccles]], in 1930 explained the [[ozone–oxygen cycle]] in the [[stratosphere]], being the first to propose that atmospheric oxygen or ozone molecules absorb (harmful UVB and UVC) [[ultraviolet]] wavelengths of light in [[Photodissociation|photolysis]], to produce reactive single atoms which accumulate to form the [[ozone layer]].

[[Graphene]] was discovered at the University of Manchester in 2004 under [[Andre Geim]] and [[Konstantin Novoselov]].

[[File:Fluothane packaging 01.jpg|thumb|left|160px|Exhibit of ICI's Fluothane (Halothane), discovered at Widnes, at [[Catalyst Science Discovery Centre]], near [[Spike Island (Cheshire)|Spike Island]] in Widnes]]
At the [[Calico Printers' Association]] in Manchester in 1941, [[John Rex Whinfield]] and [[James Tennant Dickson]] discovered [[polyethylene terephthalate]], known as PET, a common [[polyester]] compound found in [[plastic bottle]]s and food, and also known as Terylene or Dacron. [[Cheslene and Crepes]] of Macclesfield discovered [[crimplene]], the fabric that is now referred to as polyester. [[ICI Dyestuffs]] at [[Hexagon House (Manchester)|Hexagon House]], in [[Blackley]] in north Manchester, discovered [[Procion]] dyes. At the [[Winnington Laboratory]] on 27 March 1933, Eric Fawcett and Reginald Gibson discovered [[Polyethylene|polythene]] in an ICI laboratory in Northwich, when reacting [[benzaldehyde]] with [[Ethylene|ethene]] at a pressure of 2,000 [[Atmosphere (unit)|atmosphere]]s; the process was improved in 1935 by [[Michael Perrin]].

[[Halothane]], the world's first synthetic inhalation [[general anaesthetic]] gas, was discovered in 1951 at ICI's [[Widnes Laboratory]] by Wallasey's [[Charles Suckling]], and first tested on a patient in Manchester in 1956; it works by binding to the [[GABA receptor]]. [[John Charnley]] of Bury invented the [[hip replacement]] in 1962 at [[Wrightington Hospital]], Lancashire, north-west of Wigan. [[Clatterbridge Hospital]] in Bebington has a [[cyclotron]] ([[Linear particle accelerator|linear accelerator]]), and is the only hospital in the UK to offer [[proton therapy]].

Alderley Park opened in October 1957, and [[ICI Pharmaceuticals]] was formed in the same year. In 1962 [[Dora Richardson]] of ICI discovered [[tamoxifen]]. ICI [[Alderley Park]] later discovered [[Anastrozole]], [[Fulvestrant]], [[Goserelin]] and [[Bicalutamide]], later made by [[Zeneca]]. James Black discovered [[beta blocker]]s—[[propranolol]] (Inderal) at Alderley Park in 1962. The [[Wellcome Trust|Wellcome Foundation]], a provider of much of Britain's medical research, was based from 1966 to 1997 at [[Crewe Hall]] in [[Crewe Green]].

[[Clifford Cocks]] and [[James H. Ellis]] from Cheshire, with [[Malcolm J. Williamson]], invented the [[RSA (cryptosystem)|RSA (algorithm)]] in 1973 at GCHQ, used for [[public-key cryptography]]. [[Richard Owen]] from Lancaster coined the word ''[[dinosaur]]'' in 1842, and he founded the [[Natural History Museum, London]], opening in 1881.