Ernest Rutherford
1871-1937
New Zealand-born British Physicist
Ernest Rutherford identified alpha and beta radiation, showed that an element could transmute by radioactivity, probed the interior structure of matter, and split the atom. He has been called the father of modern physics, but was a somewhat reluctant parent, disliking many mathematical and philosophical aspects of the "new science." Rutherford preferred simple, descriptive interpretations, once saying that if a piece of physics could not be explained to a barmaid, then it was not a very good piece of physics.
Ernest was born the fourth child of Martha and James Rutherford, in the Nelson district of the South Island of New Zealand. His education had a number of fortunate coincidences. His local primary school opened the year he was eligible to start schooling, so he did not miss years like his elder brothers and sisters. He won a scholarship to Nelson College (a high school), where his mathematical abilities were encouraged. From there he won a scholarship to attend Canterbury College (a university), where he became only the 338th graduate, and performed his first important experiments in physics, using a cloakroom as his laboratory. Rutherford missed a scholarship for further study in England, but as runner-up received the award when the winner turned down the prize. He was lucky enough to arrive at Cambridge University, England, just after major reforms allowing non-Cambridge graduates to study there.
In 1895 Rutherford joined Cambridge's respected Cavendish laboratory, the same year x rays were discovered. He established his reputation in this revolutionary field before turning to another new area, radioactivity. In 1898 he identified two different types of radiation, alpha and beta. Rutherford then became professor at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. With Frederick Soddy (1877-1956) he determined that alpha radiation consisted of helium atoms (without electrons). This work culminated in their "Disintegration Theory" (1903), which stated that one element could transform into another by radiation, which some critics called alchemy.
In 1907 Rutherford moved to Manchester, England, to become one of the highest paid physics professors in the world. He was awarded the 1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the transmutation of elements by radiation, and joked about his own sudden "transmutation" from a physicist to a chemist. Rutherford continued looking at atomic structure, firing alpha particles at thin sheets of gold foil, and unexpectedly finding that some were greatly deflected. Rutherford commented it was "as if you fired a 15-inch naval shell at a piece of tissue paper and the shell came right back and hit you." This led Rutherford to propose that the atom had a very small positively charged nucleus with distant orbiting negative electrons.
Rutherford was knighted in 1914. During World War One he worked in submarine detection, but still found time for some inspired research. When late for a military meeting he explained that the importance of his science experiment was "far greater than that of the war." He was in fact busy splitting the atom!
After the war Rutherford moved to the Cavendish laboratory as its new head, leading it to more ground-breaking research. In one celebrated year,1932, Cavendish researchers discovered the neutron, and purposefully split lithium atoms, both experiments resulting in Nobel prizes. As his fame grew he became a popular public lecturer around the world. Rutherford preferred simple experiments, using basic equipment, with common sense interpretations of the results, saying of mathematical theorists that "they play their games with symbols ... but we in the Cavendish turn out the real solid facts of Nature." However, he gladly used theories that supported his own experimental results.
Rutherford's loud voice and heavy build could be intimidating, but his booming laugh was legendary. He guided the careers of many talented experimenters and encouraged women scientists. From 1925-30 he was President of the Royal Society. In 1931 he was made Baron Rutherford of Nelson. He died in 1937, and was buried at Westminster Abbey.
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