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Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson, OM, FRS (30 August 1871–19 October 1937) was a New Zealand chemist and physicist who became known as the father of nuclear physics. He discovered that atoms have a small charged nucleus, and thereby pioneered the Rutherford model (or planetary model, which later evolved into the Bohr model or orbital model) of the atom, through his discovery of Rutherford scattering with his gold foil experiment. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908. He is widely credited as splitting the atom in 1917 and leading the first experiment to "split the nucleus" in a controlled manner by two students under his direction, John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton in 1932.
Later years
He was knighted in 1914. In 1916 he was awarded the Hector Memorial Medal. In 1919 he returned to the Cavendish as Director. Under him, Nobel Prizes were awarded to Chadwick for discovering the neutron (in 1932), Cockcroft and Walton for an experiment which was to be known as splitting the atom using a particle accelerator, and Appleton for demonstrating the existence of the ionosphere. He was admitted to the Order of Merit in 1925 and in 1931 was created Baron Rutherford of Nelson, of Cambridge in the County of Cambridge, a title that became extinct upon his unexpected death in hospital following an operation for an umbilical hernia (1937). Since he was a peer, British protocol at that time required that he be operated on by a titled doctor, and the delay cost him his life. He is interred in Westminster Abbey, alongside J. J. Thomson, and near Sir Isaac Newton.
Legacy
Rutherford's research, along with that of his protégé Sir Mark Oliphant, was instrumental in the convening of the Manhattan Project to develop the first nuclear weapons.
Many items bear Rutherford's name in honour of his life and work:
- Scientific discoveries
- the element rutherfordium, Rf, Z=104. (1997)
- Institutions
- Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, a scientific research laboratory near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK.
- Rutherford College, a school in Auckland, New Zealand
- Rutherford College, a college at the University of Kent in Canterbury, UK
- the Rutherford Institute for Innovation at the University of Cambridge, UK
- Rutherford Intermediate School, Wanganui, New Zealand
- Buildings
- a building of the modern Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, UK
- The Ernest Rutherford Physics Building at McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- a physics classroom in Portsmouth Grammar School, Hampshire, UK.
- the physics and chemistry building at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand
- The Coupland Building at the University of Manchester where Rutherford worked was renamed The Rutherford Building in 2006.
- The Rutherford lecture theatre in the Schuster building at the University of Manchester
- The Rutherford Building, Sixth form center and refectory at Bedford Modern School, Bedford, UK
- Halls of residence
- Rutherford Residence Hall at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, NJ, USA.
- a student hall at Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK.
- Rochester and Rutherford Hall, a boarding house at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.
- at Cashmere High School, Christchurch, New Zealand
- at Corran School for Girls, Auckland, New Zealand
- at Island School, Hong Kong
- at Macleans College, Auckland, New Zealand
- at Mount Roskill Grammar School, Auckland, New Zealand
- at Nelson College, New Zealand, his own high school
- at Rangiora High School, Rangiora, New Zealand
- at Rangitoto College, Auckland, New Zealand
- at Shirley Boys' High School, Christchurch, New Zealand
- at St Andrews College, Christchurch, New Zealand
- at Stepney Green School, London, England
- at Tanjong Katong Secondary School, Singapore
- at Tauranga Boys' College, New Zealand
- at Tauranga Girls' College, New Zealand
- at Waimea College, Richmond, New Zealand
- at Westburn School in Christchurch
- at Hutt International Boys' School, Upper Hutt, New Zealand
- at Tawa College, Wellington, New Zealand
- Major streets
- Rutherford Close, a residential street in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK.
- Lord Rutherford Road in Brightwater, New Zealand - his birthplace.
- Rutherford Road in the biotech district of Carlsbad, California, USA.
- Rutherford Street in Nelson, New Zealand.
- Other
- The crater Rutherford on the Moon, and the crater Rutherford on Mars
- The Rutherford Award at Thomas Carr College for excellence in VCE Chemistry, Australia
- Image on New Zealand $100 note.
- Rutherford was the subject of a play by Stuart Hoar.
- On the side of the Mond Laboratory on the site of the original Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, there is an engraving in Rutherford's memory in the form of a crocodile, this being the nickname given to him by its commissioner, his colleague Peter Kapitza. The initials of the engraver, Eric Gill, are visible within the mouth.
- The Rutherford Foundation, a charitable trust set up by the Royal Society of New Zealand to support research in science and technology.
Publications
- Radio-activity (1904), 2nd ed. (1905), ISBN 978-1-60355-058-1
- Radioactive Transformations (1906), ISBN 978-1-60355-054-3
- Radiations from Radioactive Substances (1919)
- The Electrical Structure of Matter (1926)
- The Artificial Transmutation of the Elements (1933)
- The Newer Alchemy (1937)
See also
References
- "Ernest Rutherford: British physicist". Encyclopædia Britannica.
- D.A. Ramsay (2001). "Book review of Rutherford, Scientist Supreme by J. Campbell". ISI Short Book Reviews. International Statistical Institute. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
- Michael Freemantle (2003). "ACS Article on Rutherfordium". Chemical & Engineering News. American Chemical Society. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
- "ErnestRutherford Physics Building". Virtual McGill. McGill University. 24 January 2000. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
- Tawa College - House system
- http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/Site/funding/rutherford/default.aspx
Further reading
- R.H. Cragg (1971). "Lord Ernest Rutherford of Nelson (1871-1937)". Royal Institute of Chemistry Reviews. 4 (4): 129–145. doi:10.1039/RR9710400129.
- J. Campbell (1999) Rutherford: Scientist Supreme, AAS Publications, Christchurch
- E. Marsden (1954). "The Rutherford Memorial Lecture, 1954. Rutherford-His Life and Work, 1871-1937". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A. 226 (1166): 283–305. doi:10.1098/rspa.1954.0254.
- Rhodes, Richard (1986). The Making of the Atomic Bomb. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-44133-7
- Wilson, David (1983). Rutherford. Simple Genius, Hodder & Stoughton, ISBN 0-340-23805-4
External links
- Biography from Nobel prize official website
- Nobel Lecture The Chemical Nature of the Alpha Particles from Radioactive Substances
- The Rutherford Museum
- Rutherford Scientist Supreme
- Profile from American Public Broadcasting Service
- Profile from The New Zealand Edge
- Annotated bibliography for Ernest Rutherford from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
- Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
- Biography in 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
- Rutherford at Canterbury University College from The Rutherford Journal
- Rutherford's Timebomb Article on Rutherford's contribution to dating the Age of the Earth
- BBC Radio 4: In Our Time - Rutherford
- The Rutherford Collection at his alma mater the University of Canterbury
- Ernest Rutherford NZ Post stamp, 2008 - includes link to short biography and other sources (NZHistory.net.nz)
- Experimental physicists
- Nuclear physicists
- British nuclear physicists
- British chemists
- British physicists
- New Zealand physicists
- Radio pioneers
- Nobel laureates in Chemistry
- McGill University faculty
- Presidents of the Royal Society
- Fellows of the Royal Society
- Fellows of the Leopoldina
- Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
- Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
- University of Canterbury alumni
- Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester
- Members of the Order of Merit
- Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
- Knights Bachelor
- People from the Nelson Region
- New Zealanders of English descent
- New Zealanders of Scottish descent
- British people of New Zealand descent
- English people of Scottish descent
- New Zealand Nobel laureates
- Burials at Westminster Abbey
- 1871 births
- 1937 deaths
- Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand