THE discovery that took half a lifetime to confirm has now been recognised with the highest scientific accolade, the Nobel Prize.
Edinburgh University-based Professor Peter Higgs' find, which became known as the Higgs boson particle, was confirmed last year, nearly five decades after he first unveiled his findings.
Professor Higgs shares the £775,000 Nobel Prize in Physics with Francois Englert, of Belgium, for their work discovering the building block of nature.
The discovery predicted a particle - the Higgs boson - and this was found by a team from the European nuclear research facility (Cern) in Geneva, Switzerland, last year. The Higgs, or God, particle has been described as the 'missing link' that explains how parts of the universe interact with one another.
Scientists across the world, the Princess Royal, Prime Minister David Cameron and First Minister Alex Salmond praised the decision to award Professor Higgs the prize.
Mr Cameron said: "This brilliant achievement is a richly deserved recognition of his lifetime of dedicated research and his passion for science.
"It took nearly 50 years and thousands of great minds to discover the Higgs Boson after Professor Higgs proposed it, and he and all those people should be extremely proud."
Mr Salmond said: "My warmest congratulations go to Professor Higgs. The Higgs boson is a scientific discovery renowned the world over.
"This richly deserved honour not only highlights the quality of research carried out in Scotland, but also how science inspires us to look for answers to fundamental questions about life and the universe."
The Princess Royal, in her role as chancellor of Edinburgh University, praised the achievement while at the institution yesterday.
She said: "As chancellor, I'm delighted because I can claim all sorts of benefits for the university (which is) hugely proud to have that connection with Professor Higgs."
Newcastle-born Higgs, 84, an emeritus professor at the university, has largely shunned publicity, but said he was "overwhelmed".
He said: "I would also like to congratulate all those who have contributed to the discovery of this new particle and to thank my family, friends and colleagues for their support.
"I hope this recognition of fundamental science will help raise awareness of the value of blue-sky research."
He is to be honoured at a reception at the university on Friday.
The Nobel Prize is valued at eight million Swedish krona (£775,000)). Laureates also receive a medal and a diploma.
The professor has told how he came upon the concept of the particle during a walk in the Cairngorms in 1964 when he started to consider the existence of a particle that gives matter its mass.
He wrote two scientific papers on his theory and was eventually published in the Physical Review Letters journal, sparking the hunt for the Higgs boson.
Professor Sir Timothy O'Shea, principal of Edinburgh University, said: "The discovery of the Higgs particle will underpin the next generation of physics research, and this accolade is worthy recognition of its significance.
"Professor Higgs' work will continue to inspire scientists at Edinburgh and beyond."
Sir John Arbuthnott, president of the Royal Society Of Edinburgh, Scotland's National Academy, said: "Peter Higgs is one of the great modern scientific minds.
"This well-deserved honour is the ultimate recognition of the extraordinary contribution he has made to the understanding of the fundamental nature of matter.
"The Fellows of the Royal Society Of Edinburgh extend heartfelt congratulations to one of our own."
Professor Craig Buttar, of Glasgow University, said: "The work by Higgs and Englert has been an inspiration for four decades of scientific endeavour."
Past Nobel winners include Marie Curie in 1903 for research on radioactivity, Einstein (theory of relativity in 1921) and Scots-born Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, who invented the cloud chamber in 1927.
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