The following passage is adapted from an essay on early twentieth-century particle physics and atmospheric radiation research.
In the late nineteenth century, physicists observed that electroscopes—instruments designed to detect electrical charge—ineplicably leaked charge over time, even when meticulously insulated. Early hypotheses attributed this spontaneous ionization of air inside the electroscopes primarily to trace amounts of radioactive elements present in the Earth’s crust. If terrestrial rocks were the sole source of this penetrating radiation, ionization rates ought to decrease exponentially with increasing altitude as distance from the ground expanded.
To test this assumption, German physicist Theodor Wulf constructed an enhanced, highly sensitive double-vane electrometer encased in a sealed zinc vessel. In 1910, Wulf carried his instrument to the top of the Eiffel Tower, approximately 300 meters above Paris, expecting to measure a dramatic reduction in radiation intensity compared to ground level. However, his measurements revealed that radiation levels at the summit dropped to roughly half of their ground values—a far slower decline than the theoretical model predicted for purely terrestrial origins. Despite Wulf’s rigorous calibration, many contemporaries dismissed his findings as an anomaly caused by residual radioactive contamination embedded within the tower's iron lattice or ambient atmospheric dust.
Seeking definitive empirical clarity, Austrian physicist Victor Hess designed a series of ten daring high-altitude free-balloon ascents between 1911 and 1912. Hess modified Wulf’s sealed electrometer design, equipping his balloon gondola with multiple thick-walled brass electroscopes capable of withstanding extreme variations in ambient atmospheric pressure and temperature. Furthermore, Hess employed two distinct types of instruments simultaneously: one with thin walls to record total ionization and another with heavy temperature-compensated walls to filter out soft, low-energy background radiation. During his famous seventh flight on August 7, 1912, Hess aboard the balloon *Böhmen* reached an unprecedented altitude of 5,350 meters without supplemental oxygen.
Hess’s meticulous data recorded a subtle initial drop in ionization up to an altitude of approximately 1,000 meters. Beyond this threshold, however, ionization rates reversed course, rising steadily. By the time *Böhmen* attained 5,350 meters, the measured radiation rate was nearly four times greater than that observed at sea level. To rule out the Sun as the primary source of this high-energy radiation, Hess performed an ascent during the near-total solar eclipse of April 17, 1912. Because the radiation intensity remained unchanged while the moon obscured the solar disk, Hess concluded that the Sun itself could not be the main generator of these rays. Instead, he asserted that a tremendously penetrating radiation must be entering the Earth's atmosphere from deep outer space—a phenomenon later named 'cosmic rays' by Robert Millikan.
Based on the passage, determine whether the following statement is True or False:
During his 1912 balloon flights, Victor Hess used identical thin-walled electroscopes in order to measure total atmospheric radiation levels without filtering low-energy background noise.
Answer: Answer