Capturing Neutrinos in the Act of Metamorphosis

First hypothesized by Pauli in 1930, the elusive neutrino only interacts with matter via the Weak Force, making them exceedingly difficult to detect.  Eventually, very clever experiments indicated that there are actually three distinct types of neutrinos, that they might have small masses, and that they might change from one type into another in mid-flight.  The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics recognizes Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B. McDonald for their measurements of these neutrino oscillations at the Super-Kamiokande neutrino detector near Tokyo and the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory in Ontario.  These results solve some mysteries – primarily the “solar neutrino problem” – but open new questions about the need to modify the Standard Model of particles and interactions.  In this talk, I will trace the theoretical and experimental history of the neutrino, with a focus on the detector designs at Super-K and SNO that allowed the oscillations to be measured, and speculate on the consequences of these results.