From Berlin to Heidelberg
Bothe studied at Berlin under Max Planck and joined the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt in 1913. He later held posts in Giessen and Heidelberg, pursuing experimental methods in the developing field of nuclear physics.
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Coincidence counting
In the 1920s Bothe and Geiger developed coincidence measurements, recording electrical pulses from separate detectors only when they occurred sufficiently close together in time. This selected signals potentially belonging to one physical process. Arranging counters in space could also select particle directions rather than merely counting all detections.
Photon and cosmic-ray studies
Bothe applied coincidence methods to the Compton effect and, with Werner Kolhörster, to cosmic rays. The 1954 prize recognised his method and resulting discoveries. Coincidence measurements also became part of nuclear spectroscopy.