Eric Burhop (31.1.1911-22.1.1980) was an English physicist and public figure and a Fellow of the Royal Society (1963). He was born in Melbourne. He graduated from the University of Melbourne (1932). In 1933-35 he worked at the Cavendish Laboratory, where in 1935 he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, in 1935—45 at the University of Melbourne, and from 1945 at the University of London (from 1960 as professor).
His research concerned atomic and nuclear physics, the physics of cosmic rays and elementary-particle physics. He studied X-rays, the Auger effect, atomic collisions and the interaction of K-mesons. He did pioneering work on the technique of nuclear emulsions and its application. In 1964 he carried out the first experiment that made it possible to “see” neutrino interactions in an emulsion, and in 1976 an experiment that for the first time allowed the decay of a charmed particle in an emulsion to be observed and its lifetime measured.
An active participant in the Pugwash movement of scientists and president of the World Federation of Scientific Workers (from 1970). He was a winner of the international Lenin Prize “For Strengthening Peace Among Peoples” (for 1970 — 71).