On dust, fogs, and particles: The history of the cloud chamber

In this paper we give a brief overview of the history of the Wilson cloud chamber from its development in the late 19th century as a device for estimating the number of dust particles in the foggy cities of the Victorian age to its glorious entry into the emerging fields of nuclear and particle physics in the 1920s and 1930s. Although the cloud chamber is no longer used in cutting-edge physics or university teaching, this device could play a new role in physics education, for example in meteorology and climate studies, and as a historical case study for teaching aspects of the nature of science.