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Rutherford and the atom
Rutherford, the father of nuclear physics, was an excellent experimenter and a brilliant inventor. His greatest contribution to physics was the discovery of the atomic nucleus. Through his experiment of bouncing alpha particles off of a thin gold sheet, he concluded that the atom had a very powerful center, "the nucleus." Rutherford stated, "It was as if you fired a 15-inch shell at a sheet of tissue paper and it came back and hit you." From this observation, he was able to calculate the size of the nucleus. This discovery, has quoted by David Eliot Brody and Arnold Brody, "marks the beginning of the modern understanding of the structure of the atom." Rutherford also discovered that heavy atoms tend to decay spontaneously into lighter atoms. With this observation, he conducted an experiment in which he artificially transformed a nitrogen atom into an oxygen atom. Through this experiment, he became the first person to create a nuclear reaction. Rutherford was also a great inventor. He invented a system of detecting submarines during World War I. He also came up with a way of measuring vibrations made from streetcars and made it possible for trains to signal to stations using wireless telegraphy. Another important invention was his machine that could measure time differences of up to one hundred-thousandths of a second. It is impossible to elaborate on all the wonderful experiments and inventions Rutherford conducted. He obviously dedicated his life to research, experiments, and creating new methods to solve unanswered problems in the science world. |
Ernest Rutherford in the Beginning
| It all started out in an old farm house in Nelson, New Zealand. On August 30, 1871 née Martha Thompson, a 29 year old English girl, gave birth to her fourth son, Ernest Rutherford. A proud father at the age of 32, James Rutherford watch as his second son came into the world. Ernest and his 11 other siblings recievd a great education because their mother was a school teacher in Spring Grove. The family moved from place to place whenever their Scottish father found work as either a mechanic, a wheelwright, an engineer, or flax-miller. |  |
| Ernest grew up areond several highly skilled people, and at the age of ten he received his first science book at Foxhill. He earned scholarships to Nelson College, University of New Zealand, and Canterbury College. While he attended the Canterbury College in Christchurch, he was a member of student debating society and the science soceity. Only 23 Ernest left New Zealand in 1895 with three degrees from the University of New Zealand. |
| Rutherford worked as a professor at McGill University from 1898 to 1907. His first book Radioactivity was published in 1904. Ironically he won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908. The professor at Manchester only wanted Rutheford to take his place when he decide to retire, and in 1920 he transfered. Rutherford returned back to New Zealand to marry Mary Georgina Newton in 1900. One year later Mary gave birth to her daughter Eileen. |  |
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Quotes:
On his vocation: "All science is either physics or stamp collecting."
"The more physics you have the less engineering you need."
On New Zealand innovation: "We don’t have the money, so we have to think."
On his experiments that resulted in his discovery of the model of the atom (the scattering experiments): "It was as if you fired a 15-inch shell at a sheet of tissue paper and it came back to hit you."
On splitting the atom: "I have broken the machine and touched the ghost of matter."
On
a self-important person: "That man is an Euclidian point: position without
substance."
Miscellaneous:
His picture is on the New Zealand
Banknote.
Links:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bpruth.html
www.rutherford.org.nz/biography.htm
