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Rutherford had such a loud and a booming voice that he disturbed experiments in the Cavendish laboratory and other experimentalists had to hang up "Quiet Please" signs near experiment setups specially near Vivien Bowden's laboratory. Nick-named 'Crocodile' by fellow Nobel Physics Laureate, Peter Kapitza, Rutherford was a nononsense ,tough man. On the side of the Mond Laboratory at the site of the original Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, there is an engraving in Rutherford's memory in the form of a crocodile.
Sir Ernest Rutherford
``````````````````````````(1871-1937)
~~~~~~~Father of Nuclear Physics.
Born: August 30, 1871, Brightwater, New Zealand
Died: October 19, 1937 (aged 66) Cambridge, England
Residence: England
Nationality: New Zealand
Field: Physicist
Institutions: McGill University, University of Manchester
Alma mater: University of Canterbury, Cambridge University
Academic advisor:]. IThomson
Notable students: Hans Geiger, Niels Bohr, Charles Galton Darwin
Known for: Being "The Father" of Nuclear Physics
Notable prizes: Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1908 Copely Medal (1922)
Ernest Rutherford was a pioneering Physicist who became a Nobel Laureate for his work in Nuclear science. It is said that during his time in Cambridge he directly or indirectly influenced almost all the experimental physics that was done at Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge during first half of 20th century.
The creation of gold from metals like lead was a dream for medieval alchemists. In 1919 A New Zealand born physicist conducted an important experiment in nuclear physics by bombarding nitrogen gas with alpha particles and obtained an oxygen isotope . This was considered by some as a realization of alchemists dream .i.e. turning one element to another, and this was the first time an artificially induced nuclear reaction was performed. The physicist who spearheaded this experiment was Ernest Rutherford.
Ernest Rutherford was unique among experimentalists as the person who tackled any problem with the most simple, the most easy to implement and the most cost effective way. He once said "If your result needs a statistician then you should design a better experiment".
Ernest Rutherford was not fond of being called a chemist but wanted to be known as a physicist and made the comment, "In science there is only physics; all the rest is stamp collecting."
Rutherford was educated at Government schools and later at Nelson Collegiate School. In 1889 he was awarded a university scholarship and entered the Canterbury College( Now known as Canterbury University).He received his B.Sc. degree in 1894. After this he was awarded a 1851 Exhibition Science Scholarship that enabled him to go to Trinity College, Cambridge University to study under Sir J.J. Thompson. In 1898 Rutherford became a physics professor at McGill University in Canada. Rutherford returned to England in 1907 to become Longworthy Professor of physics at University of Manchester, and in 1919 accepted the Cavendish Chair at Cambridge.
Ernest Rutherford was unique among experimentalists as the person who tackled any problem with the most simple, the most easy to implement and the most cost effective way. He once said "If your result needs a statistician then you should design a better experiment".
Ernest Rutherford was not fond of being called a chemist but wanted to be known as a physicist and made the comment, "In science there is only physics; all the rest is stamp collecting."
Rutherford was educated at Government schools and later at Nelson Collegiate School. In 1889 he was awarded a university scholarship and entered the Canterbury College( Now known as Canterbury University).He received his B.Sc. degree in 1894. After this he was awarded a 1851 Exhibition Science Scholarship that enabled him to go to Trinity College, Cambridge University to study under Sir J.J. Thompson. In 1898 Rutherford became a physics professor at McGill University in Canada. Rutherford returned to England in 1907 to become Longworthy Professor of physics at University of Manchester, and in 1919 accepted the Cavendish Chair at Cambridge.
In the summer of 1900 Rutherford travelled to New Zealand to marry Mary Newton. When their first daughter was born, he wrote to his mother that" ... it is suggested that I call her ' lone' , after my respect for ions in gases".
Rutherford started experimenting on Radioactivity in 1896. He identified the 3 main radioactive emissions and studied Alpha and Beta rays. He also named alpha and beta radiation and discovered Gamma radiation as well.He also found that Alpha particles are helium nuclei. His study of radiation led to his formulation of a theory on atomic structure, still accepted today. This model of the atom describes an atom having a very dense and very small nucleus ,around which electrons travel. This was proved experimentally by Rutherford with assistants , Geiger and Marsden, and is known as the famous Gold foil experiment. Rutherford was reputed to have stated that the idea of using nuclear reaction to generate useful power was "moonshine". This was heard by Leo Szilard ,a Hungarian physicist who was upset that one of his esteemed colleagues like Rutherford made such a comment. Later Szilard was a part of the team in the construction of the first Atomic Bomb, which proved Rutherford was wrong in a very destructive way.
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