In 1964, Peter Higgs predicted the existence of a new particle - the so-called Higgs boson - but it would be almost 50 years before the particle's existence could be confirmed at the Large Hadron Collider, which operates at the European particle physics laboratory, CERN.
The Higgs theory related to how subatomic particles get their mass, and is a central part of the so-called Standard Model, which describes the physics of how the universe is made.
The Higgs boson, which has since been nicknamed the "God particle", was the key missing piece in the model.
"Higgs was a remarkable person," noted the vice-chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, Peter Mathieson. "A truly gifted scientist whose vision and imagination have enriched our knowledge of the world around us."
"His pioneering work has motivated thousands of scientists and his legacy will continue to inspire many more for generations to come," added Mathieson.
After a series of experiments, which gained momentum from 2008, his theory was proven by physicists working at CERN's Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland in 2012.
The Nobel prize was shared with François Englert, a Belgian theoretical physicist whose work in 1964 also contributed directly to the discovery, recalls The Guardian.
Severin Carrell
A Fellow of the Royal Society, Higgs spent most of his professional life at the University of Edinburgh, which created the Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics in his honor in 2012.
"In addition to his extraordinary contributions to particle physics, Peter was a very special person, a man of rare modesty, a great teacher and someone who explained physics in a very simple and profound way," said Fabiola Gianotti, Director General of CERN and former scientific leader of the Atlas Collaboration, which helped discover the Higgs particle.
"An important part of CERN's history and achievements is linked to Higgs. I am very sad and will miss him very much," added Gianotti.
"Higgs was a hero to the particle physics community," said Jon Butterworth, also a member of the Atlas collaboration.
"The particle that bears his name is perhaps the most impressive example of how seemingly abstract mathematical ideas can make predictions that end up having enormous physical consequences," he added.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the Nobel Prize, stated at the time that the standard model of physics that underpins the scientific understanding of the universe "is based on the existence of a special type of particle: the Higgs particle. This particle originates in an invisible field that fills all of space.
"Even when the universe seems empty, this field is there. Without it, we wouldn't exist, because it is from contact with the field that particles acquire mass. The theory proposed by Englert and Higgs describes this process," said the Academy.
An immensely shy man who didn't like to make a fuss, Higgs had just left home for a quiet lunch of soup and trout in Leith, on the day of the announcement that he had won the Nobel Prize, when he was stopped by a former neighbor who told him the news on his way home.
