Observation of Neutrinos from Supernova 1987A by Kamiokande-Ii

The development history, design, and operation of the Kamiokande II neutrino detector are reviewed and illustrated with drawings and diagrams, and a brief account of the Kamiokande observations of neutrinos from SN 1987A (Hirata et al., 1987) is given. The fundamental physics of the particle interactions involved in neutrino detection is outlined; the IMB detector and Kamiokande are compared; experiments aimed at observing recoil electrons from solar B-8 neutrinos are described; and proposals for a scaled-up super-Kamiokande detector are considered.