Ernest Rutherford
Father of nuclear physics
He is described as "the father of nuclear physics" and "the greatest experimentalist since Michael Faraday."[1] In 1908, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his investigations into the disintegration of elements and the chemistry of radioactive substances.[1]
Quick Facts
- Order
- 44th
- Office
- President of the Royal Society
- Took office
- 1925
- Left office
- 1930
- Predecessor
- Sir Charles Sherrington
- Successor
- Sir Frederick Hopkins
- Born
- 30 August 1871
- Birthplace
- Brightwater, Nelson Province, Colony of New Zealand
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Ernest Rutherford was born on 30 August 1871 in Brightwater, New Zealand, the fourth of twelve children.[2] In 1903, Rutherford gave the name "gamma ray" to a third type of radiation with much greater penetrating power.[3] In 1895, the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 granted Rutherford an 1851 Research Fellowship, which funded his postgraduate journey to England and his studies at the Cavendish Laboratory.[4] Under his direction, James Chadwick uncovered the neutron in 1932.[5]
What the cited sources add
The same source notes he graduated M.A. in 1893 with a double first in Mathematics and Physical Science.[6] Rutherford's first researches in New Zealand were concerned with the magnetic properties of iron exposed to high-frequency oscillations.[6] The Nobel account states he worked jointly with Thomson on the behavior of ions in gases treated with X-rays.[6] Otto Hahn, who later discovered atomic fission, worked under Rutherford at the Montreal Laboratory in 1905-06.[6]
The Nobel source reports Rutherford was knighted in 1914 and created First Baron Rutherford of Nelson in 1931.[6] A Physics World article from 1999 lists Rutherford as the 10th greatest physicist of all time, with 20 votes.[7] According to the Nobel Prize biographical account, Rutherford came into the world on August 30, 1871, in Nelson, New Zealand; he was the fourth child, and his father James Rutherford worked as a Scottish wheelwright.[6]
References
- Wikipedia, "Ernest Rutherford" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Ernest Rutherford", Environmental Health and Safety Office of Research Regulatory Support; Badash, "Ernest Rutherford Accomplishments, Atomic Theory, & Facts Britannica", Encyclopedia Britannica; "Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1908", Nobel Foundation (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ernest Rutherford" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: A.H. McLintock, "Rutherford, Sir Ernest (Baron Rutherford of Nelson, O.M., F.R.S.)", Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 18 September 2007; A.H. McLintock, "Rutherford, Sir Ernest (Baron Rutherford of Nelson, O.M., F.R.S.)", Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 18 September 2007; J.L. Heilbron, "Ernest Rutherford And the Explosion of Atoms", Oxford University Press, 12 June 2003, p. 12; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ernest Rutherford" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Trenn, "Rutherford on the Alpha-Beta-Gamma Classification of Radioactive Rays", Isis, 1976, p. 61–75 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ernest Rutherford" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: 1851 Royal Commission Archives; "Papers Past Newspapers Ashburton Guardian 13 July 1895 European and Other Foreign Items", paperspast.natlib.govt.nz; ; "Ernest Rutherford Biographical", The Nobel Prize (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Ernest Rutherford" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Physics: past, present, future", Physics World, December 6, 1999; "$100 banknote", Reserve Bank of New Zealand, 6 August 2024 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Ernest Rutherford Biographical", The Nobel Prize. facts only, no text reused. nobelprize.org
- "Physics: past, present, future", Physics World, December 6, 1999. facts only, no text reused. physicsworld.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Ernest Rutherford (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Notable Figures
Elsewhere in Historical Figures
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced