Profile: Prof Peter Higgs: The genius behind the theory

It was in that year he dreamed up the concept. Although commonly reported that it came to him in a flash of inspiration while walking in the Cairngorms, he told The Scotsman earlier this year that it had actually dawned on him slowly while he was living in Edinburgh.

The 83-year-old retired particle physicist has never been one to seek out the limelight. He does not own a television and relies on his former colleagues at the University of Edinburgh to keep him up to date about developments linked to the search for the Higgs boson. However, yesterday he was in the audience as its discovery was confirmed, and gave an emotional reaction, in which he said it was “incredible” it had happened in his lifetime.

Born in Newcastle in 1929, he was awarded a first-class honours in theoretical physics at King’s College London and moved to Edinburgh in 1950. He retired from the University of Edinburgh in 2006.

Earlier this year he told The Scotsman he predicted the discovery of the Higgs boson would be confirmed this summer, and said he would celebrate by opening a bottle of champagne. He is now tipped for a Nobel prize.