Ernest Rutherford was born to James Rutherford and Martha (nee Thompson) at a hamlet of Spring Grove in remote New Zealand village known today as Brightwater, near Nelson. His grandparents had migrated to New Zealand in 1842. Ernest was born on August 30, 1871, the fourth child in a family of six brothers and five sisters. At Spring Grove, the family resided in a small wooden cottage but when Ernest was four, his father James moved the family to Foxhill – a slightly bigger village nearby.
Foxhill
At Foxhill, the Rutherford's had a big pleasant house made of wood and great deal of land around it. Life was hard with lots of physical work to earn the bread. When the boy was big enough – he started working at his father’s sawmill and on the small farm attached to the house. Those were the days without machinery and all the work was done manually. The grains had to be sowed by hand – and often every single grain had to be rubbed between the palms to clear the chaff.
These difficulties did not dampen Ernest’s spirit. The energetic little boy had cultivated all kinds of country hobbies like fishing in the streams, hunting in the hills etc. to keep himself happily engaged.
School
At five, Ernest went to a primitive school at Foxhill for his primary education. Though not an infant prodigy, his schoolwork was always above average. He showed keen interest in every activity. His favorite subjects were Latin and classics and there was no inclination towards science till the age of 10. At 10, he happened to read a small science textbook by Bolfour Stewart, a professor of physics at Manchester. This book is said to have aroused his interest in the scientific field.
Together with two older sisters and two younger brothers, Ernest began school at Foxhill on March 14 1877. The school had been under the control of the Wai-iti School Committee and it was not until Mr Harry Ladley became Principal in 1873 that rolls were introduced. In February 1879, a meeting of householders was called and the Foxhill School Committee, of which James Rutherford was a member, came into being.
Young Ernest was fortunate in having a teacher of the calibre of Mr Ladley. Noting Ernest’s enthusiasm of arithmetic, he set him up with extra work to extend his enquiring mind. He also introduced the young boy to science. Once during an electrical storm, with flashes of lightning overhead, James Rutherford got out of bed to check on his farm. He found Ernest standing in his pajamas on the verandah talking to himself softly.
"Ernest, what’s up, my boy :’" he called.
"I'm counting," the boy replied.
"Counting?"
Another rumble shook the house.
"Yes. If you count the seconds between the flash and the thunderclap and allow 1200 feet for each second for the sound to travel, you can tell how close you are to the storm center."
The boy remained counting but his father went back to bed. After that storm Ernest would often talk to his brothers about light waves and the speed of sound, learning much of this from a small text book on physics given to him when he was 10 years old. Brother James recalled that in the middle of a meal Ernest would pause, fork in air, deep in thought.
"Look at Ern, Mum. What’s he doing?" one of the children would ask. Their mother would simply answer,
"Why, he's staring into another world, I guess."
The year 1882 marked a move for the family from Foxhill to Havelock – at the edge of Pelorus Sound. Ernest’s experiments, though not in the related field, started with growing of flax – a crop not much cultivated in New Zealand. There are many stories about his days in Havelock. Few of them show his inventive streak of mind. Ernest created many a thing in his childhood – toy cannons, which would fire marbles to quite a distance. His creative bent of mind was evident when he succeeded in restarting his father’s clock when it went wrong. He made a camera of his own and also became an enthusiastic photographer, developing and printing on his own.
Simultaneously, he enjoyed his childhood days rolling in the hilly inland. Bird nesting, spearing eels in the river and shooting in the hills made his country life interesting. At the age of 15, he won his first scholarship obtaining 580 marks out of 600 at Havelock.
Nelson College
With the scholarship he went to Nelson College, where he came in contact with W J Ford, a headmaster from Cambridge. Ford was a scholar and a great sportsman, whom Ernest admired. He was heard saying for Ford : "Few men, if any, have hit a cricket ball farther and higher. It was not possible to catch out a man who persistently hit the ball over the boundary."
Among the other people whom Ernest admired was Dr W S Littlejohn, an assistant master, a Scot from Aberdeen, who started as a classics teacher but managed to teach himself chemistry and physics and influenced Rutherford’s great work as scientist. During those days, science was an optional subject and Ernest was the only boy in the science class and got exclusive attention of Littlejohn.
Ernest was an all rounder at school and played all the games at hand. His major advantage was his remarkable power of concentration. It is said that he could go on reading in the midst of noise. By the end of the Nelson College he credited himself not only with the prize for mathematics but also for History, English literature, French and Latin.
Canterbury College
The year 1889 was eventful in terms that enabled him to decide on his field of study. He had appeared for a Junior University Scholarship, which would enable him to work at Canterbury College, Christchurch, affiliated to the University of New Zealand. The result though favorable had a story associated with it. When the result were out he was digging potatoes in the farm. "You’ve won it, Ernest !", his mother exclaimed. "Won what ?" he questioned without realizing what his mother was talking about. Then he suddenly realized and threw down his spade and added, "That’s the last potato I shall ever dig."
In 1891, he passed the first part of BA degree with Latin, English, Mathematics and Mechanics. In 1892, he received the degree in French and Physics. He also acquired the Senior Scholarship, which enabled him to study further. He worked further to earn his MA degree.
Ernest was an enthusiastic and energetic country boy, who not only loved books but also participated in extracurricular activities. He played as a forward for the Football Fifteen and also participated actively in discussions and debates held by the Dialectical Society. In 1891 when the college decided for the first time to start the science society – and he participated for its first subject ‘The Evolution of the Elements’.
Meanwhile, it was in 1893 that he achieved a ‘double first’ MA degree in the two main subjects – Mathematics and Physics.
Graduation in Science
The real taste for science had by then developed in Rutherford. Instead of a job, he preferred to learn more and accordingly, he came back for the fifth year and earned the degree of B.Sc. for which he was required to do some original research. Rutherford wanted to present something, which was upper most in the minds of various young scientists. He opted to prepare a ‘receiver’ for a transmitter. A German scientist named Hertz had shown that it was possible to send electric waves through space but the problem was to invent an instrument which could detect the waves. Branley, a scientist had made an instrument – Cohere, for the purpose but its sensitivity was not enough.
Ernest Rutherford was a research student with limited resources but had ample determination. He used the home made apparatus for the purpose. His idea was, if steel or iron device could be easily magnetized or demagnetized by an alternating current, then it should be sensitive to Hertzian wave and a better receiver could be created. His first step towards it was to pass an alternating current through insulated copper wire, wound into a coil with a hole at the center. Few sewing needles were placed in the center of the hole – it worked effectively.
1851 Scholarship
The thesis was entitled ‘Magnetization of Iron by High Frequency Discharge’. It gained him the BSc degree. He also read a paper on this subject at the Philosophical Institute and it was published in the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute. It was a great achievement and noteworthy landmark in the life of a young scientist in 1894. The success encouraged him to proceed into the detection of wireless waves at a distance. Soon he demonstrated the detection of waves sent from a distance. He had sent a message for a considerable distance of 60 feet – and it was the first radio message ever to ‘go on air’ in New Zealand.
He was busy writing about this new development in 1895. He titled this essay as ‘Magnetic Velocity’. These two papers were presented for scholarship to have research work directed by professors with experience. The two substantial papers formed a base that credited him ‘1851 scholarships’ in 1895. This scholarship was given to promising students from the great Dominions to come to London to enable them to carry their research work in Great Britain.
Towards Cambridge
Rutherford had in the meanwhile, met a girl who was eventually to be his wife. Ernest used to coach students to raise some extra money at Canterbury College. For this purpose he lived in the house of Mrs Newton, a widow with four children. Her eldest daughter was very fond of him. Ernest also liked her and before he sailed to England they were unofficially engaged.
Buoyed with the excitement in anticipation of getting a chance to meet others interested in the same subjects, to feel the stimulus of hearing lectures and seeing demonstrations by famous men of the scientific world, he boarded the ship bound for England. It is poignant to note that Ernest Rutherford, one of the most brilliant scientists, had to borrow money for passage to England.
Ernest at Cambridge
After an uneventful voyage, the young scientist arrived in Britain. Dr J J Thomson, a famous professor from Cambridge who had given a series of lectures in USA on ‘Electrical Discharges Through Matter’ wrote to Ernest that he would be pleased to give all the assistance possible and further said that Ernest could also get a degree for his research if he did so with the examiner’s approval.
Thomson was a young genius and was very helpful to Ernest. Writing to his fiancé, Ernest said, "He is very pleasant in conversation and not fossilized at all. As regards appearance, he is medium sized man, dark and quite youthful; shaves very badly and wears his hair rather long."
Ernest Rutherford, till then, was only thinking of concentrating on ‘receiver’. He started his work on the project and succeeded in showing that the signals would pass any object – bricks, mortar or human body. It was a brilliant piece of applied science. But Rutherford had lost his interest in it. Being in touch with Dr J J Thomson, the subject of ‘electrical discharges through gases’ interested him more.
Electrons
In 1894, Dr Thomson had presented his idea on ‘Electrical Discharge’. Some time before, Sir William Crookes had found that when an electric discharge is passed through a vacuum tube, a strange kind of discharge came from the negative pole or cathode. This discharge came to be known as Electrons. Thomson found out that the particle carried negative electricity, which we now know as electron. He also measured the charge on electrons and its weight. It was found that the electrons were only about 1/1800th the weight of hydrogen atom and it could, hitherto, be the lightest particle known.
Ernest was still busy with his radio detector, while a new discovery came to light, known as ‘X-rays’. Thomson was intrigued with it but had difficulty in passing electric charges through gases. Moreover, the accuracy was difficult to measure and so he suggested Ernest to turn to study of X-rays and their effects on gases. Ernest had also interest in the radio-detector and was pleased with the idea. He thought it to be a new puzzle and would enjoy its investigation.
Before he took up the project, Sir Robert Ball, a great astronomer came down to the laboratory. He was interested in the ‘receiver’. He came with an idea that a vibrator, sending out a constant wave could be installed in the lighthouse, which would help the ships carrying detectors to get the warning on time, if it approached too close to the rocks or the cliff. Though the idea was not carried out but the visit of such a personality like Sir Robert Ball definitely boosted Ernest’s confidence.
Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Rays
Immaterialization of radio waves detection allowed Ernest to occupy with something exciting. He started work on mysterious ‘X-rays’. The great puzzle was how to study the action. Once the gas was activated by exposition to the action of ‘X-rays’, the major problems arose – How to study it ? – How to see what activities lay in store ? And how to discover whether the active part of the gas could be separated from the inactive part of it ? Seeing through activated gas made one realize that many active particles were surrounded by inactive particles.
It was now that Rutherford’s genius as an experimenter came to the fore. He started working with a heavy metal called uranium. He was trying to match any rays given off by uranium and to see if they matched with rays obtained from other sources or not. It was that various rays given off by uranium reacted differently when magnetized. Some had positive electric charges and some had negative, while the rest had no charges at all. Rutherford baptized the three types after the first three letter of Greek alphabet – alpha rays, beta rays and gamma rays. This also solved the mystery of ‘X-rays’. The gamma rays were proved to be ‘X-ray’. This happened to bring a major breakthrough in the field of science. The things done just for change happened to change the world totally, as Rutherford was to work on alpha and beta rays and lead the world of science on different track altogether.
Breakthrough
At Cavendish Laboratory, he was working with the men, most of whom were destined to make a name in the world of Physics – W H Bragg whom Rutherford had met at Adelaide; R T Glaze Brook, who later became Sir Richard Glaze Brook, Director of National Physical Laboratory; Arthur Schuster, who later became Sir Arthur Schuster, President of British Association; Napier Shaw, famous weather expert, including Dr Thomson too.
These were the brilliant men, who worked together under one roof than any group ever worked in the history of science. Rutherford initially was shy and was the odd one out among them. Rutherford with his success in the investigation of X-rays – stepped in the first rank of scientific investigators and also gained a great amount of confidence. This success gained the required individuality to work out his thoughts. He was now trying to unveil the alpha and beta rays – but before he could go beyond his preliminary survey a sudden change occurred in his life.
Dilemma
Meanwhile, Dr Callendar, professor of Physics at McGill University, resigned and a search for a successor was on. A likely place where brilliant physicists could be found was the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge. A representative of the Canadian University had come down for the purpose and his arrival had aroused a great discussion among the researchers.
Rutherford also had thought over it and wrote about it to Mary Newton in New Zealand on April 22, 1898 saying that he did not think that he would try for it. "I think it doubtful", he wrote "whether J J will want me to go on." He also stressed that salary was not very good – £500 p.a., but was not bad either.
Rutherford was unable to concentrate his thoughts. On May 10 he again wrote to Mary, "I don’t think I shall go in for the Montreal Chair". After a week, he changed his mind. He wrote to Mary on May 18, "I have made up my mind to go in for the Montreal Chair, chiefly as a business matter, because it will probably do me much good, even if I don’t get it."
McGill University
The salary of £500 p.a. was not good enough for the post of head of a University department, but he was planning to marry his long time love in New Zealand. His financial position was weak and this amount would allow him to get married. In spite of all this, he doubted his chance. He also had testimonials from big names in the field of science like Sir Robert Ball, Sir J J Thomson and many others. Thomson’s testimonial read, "I never had the student, …with more enthusiasm or ability for original research than Mr. Rutherford… I should consider any institute fortunate that secured the services of Mr Rutherford as a professor of physics."
Before his application was to go, he wrote to Mary Newton that "I have come to the conclusion that my chances are ‘up a spout’."
Dr John Cox of Montreal and Dr Peterson, the principal of McGill University came over to England to interview and the 27-year-old. Rutherford, filled the chair as professor of Physics.
Zealous Rutherford
A change came in the life of the researcher during mid-1898, when he was appointed as professor of McGill University, Montreal. His work on alpha and beta was halted. The University had two terms and the long vacation lasted for six months from April to September – and there was time on hand before the actual term started. An opportunity for him to go back to New Zealand and bring his bride home to Canada.
This was to be the happiest thing to Rutherford if it had happened. "Am I", he wrote "to go to New Zealand to fetch you to look after me and become Mrs Professor, or am I to wait another year to get enough cash to do it in style ?" Late, he wrote again, "Rejoice with me dear girl, for matrimony is looming in the distance."
Rutherford prepared for the voyage to Canada in early September. This time, he did not have to borrow money for the passage. He spent his last few days at Cambridge writing a paper describing the work that he had been doing on alpha and beta particles. Rutherford was very excited to cross the Atlantic and join his new duty.
He also wrote to his mother informing her about his new post as a professor. The 1851 commissioners also were happy with their choice. In their final report they said that they were ‘justly proud’ on their selection of Rutherford to work at the Cavendish Laboratory.
The Professor
The sense of going to a new country to take fresh responsibility was very exciting for him. He was quite confident that he would be able to direct the assistant and research students and continue the flow of discoveries that had started from Cambridge. His only worry was his lecturing ability. He doubted whether he would enable the students to bring their originality out or not. Rutherford took control of the Physics Laboratories at the young age of 28.
Dr Cox proved to be great friend and philosopher to Rutherford. Cox soon saw that in Rutherford’s form, McGill had secured one of the most practical scientists and in order to allow the scientist to experiment, he personally took over a lot of his (Ernest's) paper work.
The expert in laboratories was not a very good lecturer and at times his lectures went ‘over their (students) heads’. This did not bother the students as he adequately compensated by his friendly and warm nature. He was approachable and did not mind giving his time to solve students difficulty.
Work at McGill
Rutherford inspired his students. In a short span of eight years, burdened with the usual responsibilities, he was able to publish over 50 papers in the leading scientific journals. The work was carried out either by himself or in his immediate supervision. His work had opened an entire new territory in Physics, which by then was said to have been 'extinct or exhausted', by many. It was like filling the odd corners of knowledge in order to complete the picture, which already had its general outline painted. After joining McGill, he soon began the work, which had come to a standstill for a while. Before crossing the Atlantic, he had written a paper describing Alpha-Beta particles – and his work on it started in the right earnest.
Experimentation
R B Owens, a young electrical engineer and winner of scholarship at Columbia University, asked for Rutherford’s suggestion and he recommended him conduct research on mysterious particles of thorium – which possessed electric charge. Rutherford himself, continued experiments on uranium, in the same direction. The results of experiments on both the metals were compared. Soon, it was discovered that thorium and uranium acted differently. It was clear that something new emanated from thorium, which matched neither with alpha nor beta particles.
This new particle was named ‘thorium emanation’. By this time, Rutherford was as interested in thorium as his first love – uranium. Meanwhile, in some part of the world related work was on. Curie – in France, had discovered radium emanation. It was quite exciting as emanation of radium and emanation of uranium showed great amount of resemblance. But at the same time thorium emanation, which was worked upon by Owens showed odd differences.
Rutherford’s Spell
Today, it might be easy to know something about ‘radioactivity’ but then at the turn of the 19th century, physicists believed that atoms were ‘unbreakable things’ – something like tiny billiard balls, and work on them was not exactly easy. They broadened their knowledge further as they continued their experiments. His papers in journals and few innovative ideas brought him in the public gaze, the same as had by Callendar for his genius during his spell. After joining McGill, he had submerged himself in uranium and thorium.
In May 1899, he became something more than a public figure. He was invited to lecture on ‘Wireless Telegraphy’, at Ottawa, for the Royal Society of Canada, for which he was much appreciated. Now, he was a busy scientist and once wrote to Mary Newton who still was waiting impatiently for his return, that he worked in the laboratory for five nights a week, and further added that it was this continuous and unbounded energy that enabled such amount of work flow, in such a short span.
Marriage
Meanwhile, Rutherford’s personal life had reached a critical juncture. Marriage seem to take precedence over other activities. Though he was well off at finances, he still had to earn well to meet the expenses. He was also undertaking some outside work to supplement his income. While doing one such assignment, he produced an instrument to measure the atmospheric pressure. By this time, he had acquainted himself with his new and regular work. He had made up his mind to take a break from work and proceed to New Zealand to marry Mary. Finally, he managed a holiday and during the summer of 1900 he sailed to New Zealand and married Mary Newton to be called 'Man and Wife.'
It was a brief stay and by autumn of that year, he returned to Canada and to get back to his routine.
Physics – Chemistry
There was a new entrant at the University – Frederick Soddy, a chemistry man. He was 23 years old with profound knowledge of chemicals. Rutherford – a physicist was unable to draw results due to lack of knowledge on the subject, proved to be his stumbling block. The union of physics with chemistry produced extraordinary results in a very short span. The Curies had already discovered radioactive metal, and also that radioactivity works. Soddy first checked whether the same applied to thorium or not. Soon, they succeeded in identifying the main source of the radioactivity of thorium. They named it as the mysterious – thorium-X. It was found out that activity of thorium-X slowly faded and was not affected by any chemical substance when added nor did the change in temperature alter the speed of reaction. Uranium was experimented with and the results were similar, in nature.
All these results seemed to muddle the existing complications. The entire research led towards one thing and opposite to the common belief of the time – atoms were not solid billiard balls but they were 'things', which broke down into 'smaller things.'
When Rutherford joined McGill, the great brains in the field thought that physics was almost complete and it was no use to keep on building any extra storey, when there was no one to stay in. And now, this radioactive change brought in a complete revolution – to upset all sorts of ideas that had been held by the scientific world.
The experiments proved – the combination of chemistry and physics worked to prove that an atom of uranium, radium or thorium was breaking down. This new breakthrough had pre-occupied the brains and alpha and beta particles were on hold, in this process. It took just two years – 1900 to 1902 – to change the entire history. The revolutionary theory proved the way in which the solid matter of the world was built up. Above all, the base was so strong that no critic could ever say that Rutherford had indulged in speculation.
Rutherford made a total shift from Wireless to atom full world. The shift was associated with a wonderful event in his personal life – the birth of his only child on March 30, 1901. She was called Eileen and as all daughters, she became the centre around which her father’s personal life as also his scientific world, revolved.
Revolution
When Rutherford joined McGill, the great brains in the field thought that physics was almost complete and it was no use to keep on building any extra storey, when there was no one to stay in. And now, this radioactive change brought in a complete revolution – to upset all sorts of ideas that had been held by the scientific world.
The experiments proved – the combination of chemistry and physics worked to prove that an atom of uranium, radium or thorium was breaking down. This new breakthrough had pre-occupied the brains and alpha and beta particles were on hold, in this process. It took just two years – 1900 to 1902 – to change the entire history. The revolutionary theory proved the way in which the solid matter of the world was built up. Above all, the base was so strong that no critic could ever say that Rutherford had indulged in speculation.
Rutherford made a total shift from Wireless to atom full world. The shift was associated with a wonderful event in his personal life – the birth of his only child on March 30, 1901. She was called Eileen and as all daughters, she became the centre around which her father’s personal life as also his scientific world, revolved.
Senior Scientist
Rutherford, with invaluable aid from Soddy, had achieved considerable success and was now directing young workers and researchers. Among these was A S Eve, who later wrote Rutherford’s biography and who turned out to be his most promising assistant. The year 1903 brought Rutherford the greatest native award – the Fellowship of the Royal Society.
Rutherford always loved to write about his discoveries. He had written about his latest progress and it was June 1904, when the first edition of his book Radio Activity was published. It surprised the world, as a scientist wrote a book in first hand about the works he had completed. By now, Rutherford with his assistant, had worked out a series of changes that took place as radium slowly broke down. Scarcely a month passed, without some important contribution to this branch of science being announced. Meanwhile, Rutherford kept up correspondence with scientists all over the world. He kept J J Thomson duly informed about what was going on in Montreal.
Little Eileen was five and the entire family was acquainted with the Canadian surroundings. Canada, though away from the main science center, was costly too. As Rutherford was planning to settle down, a house was also planned out but a letter from Professor Schuster, changed all that.
Manchester
Professor Schuster, who was due to retire from Manchester University, wrote to Rutherford if he would be interested in applying for the position. Rutherford having long felt of being isolated from the great center of science, lost no time to get back to where the action was. In January 1907, he was appointed for the post at Manchester and Rutherford crossed the Atlantic to get back to England, in October 1907.
Alpha Particle
At Montreal, he was occupied in the 'breaking' of an atom. In due course, the mystery of beta particle was solved – they were the electrons but what remained unsolved were alpha particles. Therefore, at Manchester, Rutherford concentrated on unveiling the alpha particle. At every experiment of breaking the atom, it was seen that electrons came out normally suggesting that atom was wholly made up of electrons.
But Rutherford was seeing far inside it. Rutherford knew that Nature was not as simple, as that – in any event the electron was so light (about 1800 times lighter than hydrogen atoms) and it had a charge of negative electricity and therefore, was sure that something was ‘inside the atom’. Sir J J Thomson, his old chief, was of the opinion that no positive charge had been known to exist in any particle with less weight than that of a hydrogen atom. It was also believed, that electron could be the unit with positive electricity and hydrogen atom minus an electron – as a unit of negative electricity.
Incidentally, Rutherford had considerable argument with Sir William Ramsay – a great chemist who also was trying to solve the puzzle of radioactivity. Ramsay, who had identified many gases (including argon and neon), was also baffled with this very tiny new element coming out. It was the team of Ramsay and Soddy in 1903, which had shown that helium gas was found in the sample of radium. After various experiments, it was found that those helium atoms with electrons taken away were the mysterious alpha particles – which Rutherford was trying to identify.
Rutherford - Geiger
Rutherford as a university professor along with his wife, had his laboratory work in full swing. His chief assistant here was Hans Geiger, a young German.
Hans Geiger is still remembered as a man behind the Geiger Counter, a device still in use to count radioactive particles, thus radioactivity. Rutherford once wrote of him, "It is quite refreshing after the critical attitude of Canadian students."
It was made possible with the help of Geiger that Rutherford devised the method of counting the alpha particles emitted by radium. This happened to be the first major result from Manchester University. With the help of various radioactive substances and mathematics, it was revealed that 1,36,000 alpha particles were ejected each second from 1/1,000th gram of radium. These results appealed and fired the public imagination and he was considered to be an astonishing personality in the field of science.
Physicist getting Nobel for Chemistry
The success in research and recognition by the common man did not make him financially secure, yet. The year 1908 brought him honor and also pleased him financially. He got the Bressa Prize from the Academy of Science at Turin, Italy. The prize amounted to nearly £400 and was utilized in addressing his immediate needs in his research. The year also fetched him the highest recognition and distinction that any man could have. It was in November 1908 that he had been invited to go to Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize. As a great physicist, he was surprised to know that he had been awarded the Prize for Chemistry.
After the presentation ceremony he made a speech, in the course of which he said, that he had dealt with many transformations of different sorts in the course of time, but the swiftest he had ever met was his own transformation from a physicist into a chemist. What, of course, pleased him the most, was vanishing of the financial worries, with the Nobel Prize money that was £7000.
Great Mentor
Fame came from different quarters, between 1908 and the outbreak of World War I, in 1914. By 1908, he had gathered around him a few most brilliant brains that were to etch their names in history of scientific research. James Chadwick, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics, in 1935, for the discovery of neutron, was one among them. Niels Bohr, a mathematician who also was a Nobel winner eventually for Physics, was the other great team member. And of course, Hans Geiger who is still remembered for the invention of the instrument for measuring radiation. Fourth was H G J Moseley, a student at Trinity College, Oxford. Rutherford credited most of his work in those last years before the outbreak of the war to Moseley and Bohr. Apart from these famed personalities, there were various other students from America, Australia and New Zealand. Robert Oppenheimer – ‘Father of the atomic bomb’ also happened to be Rutherford’s student at Cavendish.
Great Small Wonder
The only small notable wonder during this period was solving the remaining part of the atomic nucleus. The alpha particle, which as per Rutherford was carrying positive charge, was somewhere inside the atom. It was clear that the electron was the outer shell of an atom. It is not known when Rutherford started thinking in the direction of atoms – like solar systems in miniature, with sun as central heavy nucleus and electrons as its planets. But one thing he was sure, that the only way to know the heavy nucleus was to smash it. Probably this was the idea which must have struck many physicists but the central problem remained as to how to do that ?
It was by 1911, when Rutherford started working on the concept. He stated that when the alpha particles are fired at a very thin piece of gold leaf, a few of them came back with great speed almost as great as that with which they were fired. A sound mathematics theory which supported Rutherford’s picture of universe, as sun - the central heavy nucleus with electrons like planets revolving around. The theory stated that atom contained a positive charge of electricity and this nucleus is revolved by a number of electrons like the planets.
This theory was to change the concept of universe, which was never thought in terms of atoms. Publishers were pressing Rutherford hard to state elaborately his work or publish a new edition of the book on Radioactivity. He updated the prior edition of the book and published it with the later investigation in 1913. In 1914, he was crowned with new honor. He was knighted by the King at Buckingham Palace. He was thus addressed as Sir Earnest Rutherford.
World War I
The later years at Manchester were happy. Before he joined the Cavendish laboratory as director in 1919, he got much recognition from all over the world. The work done by him was so absorbing that he was unable to give time to his family. But, his wife Mary was quite understanding. He had a happy home, which encouraged him to concentrate on work all the time. The idea of war gravely disturbed him as it would affect his work, in which great minds from various countries were contributing.
The threat of war though looming at large, the work on atom continued. Rutherford himself, was now least concerned with it and planned to travel giving lectures on his works. In April, he went to the US and gave a lecture at the National Academy of Sciences, in Washington.
It was decided then decided that the British association should meet in Australia. Soon, he set off for a tour on the other side of the world. At Melbourne, he gave a popular lecture on ‘Atoms and Electrons’. After the Melbourne visit, he spent a short time in New Zealand and gave a lecture at Canterbury College on ‘Evolution of the Elements’. Meanwhile, the war clouds had burst and when he returned to England it was a New England – at war.
The outbreak of war also broke the group of research students at Manchester. Those from the enemy country had returned thinking it to be a wise step. The greatest loss the war brought was loss of Moseley, a prominent research student and lecturer in the Physics Department at Manchester, who was shot dead, during the war.
The year 1915 drew Rutherford himself into the war. He was appointed as Admiral on the Board of Invention and Research. His main contribution was towards working on acoustic methods to detect submarines and to develop several new technologies. The change from alpha particles to U-boats was something considered impossible, but Rutherford succeeded at it too! He made a device named Hydrophone. This was a microphone placed at the center of a heavy metal ring. It was capable of detecting the submarine but it was useless as to detecting the direction from where it appeared. He soon was able to screen in a way that enabled the instrument to know the origin of the submarine.
The success of Sir Ernest Rutherford shows that great brains can produce fruits in any field.
France – USA
By 1917, the scenario changed with the entry of the United States in the war. The French and British governments decided to meet American experts to make them aware of this new progress of submarine detection among other things. In course of such meets Rutherford, with Commander Bridge, went first to Paris to meet French experts and fixed up the details for the visit to the US. During the short stay in Paris, Rutherford took out time and dined with a group of French scientists, which included Madame Curie, Langevin and Perrin.
Despite the wartime hazards, the short stay was enjoyed by Rutherford . He went to America where the scientist got the space to actually breathe in such a war period. He met and had lunch with British Astrophysicist residing in the United States, Professor F J M Stratton.
It seemed that Rutherford was not on any mission for war but had managed to meet great brains and exchange words with them. Later, he went to New York and Boston. Yale University honored him with a DSc degree. On receiving the news of this honor, his mother wrote to him saying that the news of the awarding of the DSc degree was "a pleasant reading for proud parents".
Rutherford at Cambridge
After the war years, he restarted his work on alpha particles and in 1919 he published the result of a complicated series of experiments. By this time it was assumed that Rutherford would settle down as Director of Physics at Manchester till the end of his active career. But early in 1919, Sir J J Thomson decided to resign from the professorship.
Rutherford, whose first love was University of Cambridge was the obvious choice as successor to Thomson. On April 2, 1919, he was officially appointed at Cambridge and joined the office in June, later that year. Finally, Rutherford had found his heaven and was contented enough to spend the remainder of his days there. He was the fourth, joining the august company of Clark Maxwell, Lord Rayleigh and Sir J J Thomson, to handle the Cavendish laboratory.
Newnham – New House
At Cambridge, the first requisite was a house. His previous stay at this place was as a bachelor and now, he had Lady Rutherford and daughter Eileen, who was 18 years of age. Sir Ernest Rutherford was fortunate as his house-hunt ended soon. They selected a house called Newnham Cottage, which was the property of Caius College.
The great brain had a peaceful and happy family life in his new home. With a co-operative wife and loving daughter, he worked with great concentration. His daughter Eileen enjoyed the social life of Cambridge, attending dance and other social functions. He always pondered on scientific problems and tried to probe deeper and deeper into the heart of nature. Soon after his appointment at Cambridge he began to build around him a group of young and eager assistants.
Neutral Particle
Ernest Rutherford made a sensation by performing the first public experiment, which proved that he had knocked hydrogen atoms out of the heart of nitrogen atoms. After settling down at Cambridge, he continued to concentrate on the alpha-particle bombardment of nitrogen, the work he was engaged in, during his final days at Manchester.
The experiment revealed that particles from nitrogen had a range of some 40 centimeters whereas no particles were emitted from oxygen. It was clear that bombardment of alpha particles was successful with only some elements. This led Rutherford to guess that primarily, the problem was electrical. The alpha particle had considerable electric charge and when the nucleus of some atom was bombarded upon, which themselves were charged, it (alpha) might strongly repel. He made a prediction of it at a lecture in 1920 that there was some particle in the atom, which was neutral and yet to be detected.
Baptizing Particles
Rutherford described the particle as neutral particle, which was to be discovered by Chadwick at the Cavendish Laboratory, 12 years later. In the summer of 1920, Rutherford suggested to name the hydrogen nuclei that carried positive charge as ‘protons’ as Thomson had named the nuclei with negative charge as ‘electrons’. The names thus stuck and are in use ever since.
Eileen’s Wedding
The year 1921 did not mark any great achievement in field of science but on domestic front, it was full of happiness for Rutherford. His only child Eileen married R H Fowler, a promising mathematical physicist, at the Chapel of Trinity College. Fowler became ‘Fellow of the Royal Society’ in 1925 and later became Professor of mathematical physics.
Isotopes
All such domestic happenings never distracted his area of concentration – isotopes. The formation of isotopes troubled him. Industrious work was carried out on isotopes by Aston. Most isotopes do not differ and to separate two sets of atoms, which are chemically identical, but which weigh 35 and 37 times as much as hydrogen atoms respectively, was not easy. The one would be double the weight than the other and therefore – Rutherford named it heavy hydrogen.
Though he was not successful at isotope research, he definitely proved to be the ‘sun’ to the new men – ‘planets’ appearing in the field and provided them the energy to keep them revolving. F W Aston got the Nobel Prize for his work on isotopes. Fredrick Soddy won the Nobel Prize in Physics in the same year. By this time, it was clear that Rutherford had revolutionized a whole realm of thought by his work and encouragement to other young men to perform.
Bursting Of Nucleus
Rutherford continued with the bombardment of atoms of various elements with alpha particles to find more of the structures of these atoms. Working with his principal assistant, Dr. Chadwick, he found few unexpected aspects of this alpha particle bombardment. They found that with some elements the alpha particle, which goes out of the chamber, had a greater range than those which came in. This was the most striking experiment of the period, which showed the bursting of atomic nucleus. Though it happened rarely, it occurred often enough to show that it was not purely accidental.
It was the first step taken in the splitting of atoms in the laboratories of the world.
Along with the experiments in 1923, Sir Ernest Rutherford was busy making his earlier work familiar to the ordinary public. All the time, he warned his listeners about the mystery of the atom and that inside the atom things might be happening which cannot be understood by ordinary physical laws.
This warning was neglected and work on it went on to bigger and more destructive 'bombs'. Had Rutherford been alive during the World War II, he would, probably have been the first person to regret the most for his discovery.
Australia – New Zealand
In 1925, after his election as the President of Royal Society, he went with Lady Rutherford on an extensive tour of Australia and New Zealand. On reaching Australia, there were a series of lectures that he addressed, at Melbourne and Sydney. He left Australia and boarded Niagara for the voyage to Auckland. The native country was being visited after years where he was given a royal welcome. He was given a free pass to go wherever he liked on the New Zealand railways and car was provided at his disposal. At New Zealand, he gave lectures at Auckland, Wellington, Nelson and Christchurch. He also visited his old school at Havelock and planted a tree there. It surely tuned out to be a trip down the memory lane.
It was to Rutherford’s great regret that the house where he was born, was pulled down. After years, he visited his parents, now aged 86 and 82. It is difficult to judge the state of mind of the old couple meeting their son after a long time to find him to be one of the world’s most famous personality. Meanwhile, still at home, he received a cable from R H Fowler announcing the birth of his granddaughter Elizabeth. After a considerable stay, they returned to England and assumed the routine life in England.
After persistent work over the years, he felt strained and at the age of 55, he said, "I want to know little more about nuclei before I retire from actual work." He was sure that his old idea about nucleus to be a hard, solid ball was wrong. Rutherford wanted the layman to understand the atom and atomic structure. In 1929, the Royal Society held a special conference on atomic nuclei. In the same year, he toured round South Africa as the British Association was meeting there. They returned to England by September. It was then, it is said that, he was faced with an odd problem – which meant he got somewhere very near to atomic bomb – though it was not made for another 15 years.
Blows – On Home Ground
It seemed that Rutherford had no personal life at all and this top-ranking man of science was in public for almost 24 hours. In 1928, when he was busy with many of these public functions, his father, James Rutherford, died in New Zealand at the age of 89.
Rutherford’s working style made many feel that his private life was pushed behind his public life, but it was not so. Rutherford had a happy life with his wife, daughter and grandchildren. Though at the end of 1930, a tragedy struck. Rutherford’s darling daughter Eileen Fowler died on December 23. She survived four children, the fourth child, barely a couple of days old when she died.
The Early 30s
The year 1931 brought him the honor of Baron. He attended the House of Lords whenever the subjects of scientific interest were to be discussed. He was very busy with his public life. He was the President of Royal Society, a member of the Houses of Lords, head of Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, all at the same time. He was a man in demand at every public occasion. Such activities were making him lose his personal touch with all the Cambridge workers.
He was guiding two brilliant men. Dr Walton and Dr Cockfort who later became Sir John Cockfort, head of Great Britain’s first atomic energy station at Harwell for inventing a gigantic machine intended to bring a real atomic transformation. The first result obtained through it was given to Royal Society, which sounded quiet and sober. But those who were aware knew that they saw the emergence of a new age – the Atomic Age. From 1932, though he did work as much as what he had in past, yet, now he did everything to encourage the youth like Chadwick, Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett and many others.
Up till now, atomic energy was seen as constructive energy but its destructive capacity was first seen in the laboratory in 1932. ‘Atoms Split !’ was what the press people termed it. What was done was this : Lithium plus hydrogen forms helium. Elements could be artificially transmuted in the laboratory – it meant that world had become a less stable place. Then too, Hiroshima was never thought or imagined of.
The year 1933 brought cheer to him as heavy hydrogen, as he named isotopes, which was not possible to manufacture on large scale earlier, was now possible.
In 1934, he inaugurated a new research laboratory of the United Steel Companies at Stocks-bridge in Yorkshire. In his address he said, "I know nothing more deadening than keeping a man’s nose firmly fixed to the grind stone’ and further added ‘No laboratory today … is self-sufficing." In 1935, his mother whom he had corresponded with regularly, and to whom he had attributed to, much of his success, died in July 1935, at the age of 92.
Last Years
Rutherford always contributed in scientific journals providing information on the developments in his works. In 1937, Rutherford published a book The Newer Alchemy, which happened to be his final work. The book was widely acclaimed.
He spent his 66th birthday happily at his cottage in Wiltshire. All his life, he remained a healthy and an industrious man. He was entered at the hospital for minor operation, when he sustained minor injury while cutting some tree in his compound. He was recovering well but on October 19, he said to Lady Rutherford, "I want to leave a 100 pounds to Nelson College. You can see to it."
Whether he had some premonition or call it fate, but he suddenly died on October 19, 1937, leaving behind, a shocked and grieving world.
One of the greatest scientists of the 20th century, Ernest Rutherford was the Father of modern atomic physics and precursor of the nuclear age. Physics was said to have been ‘done for’ by the end of 19th century when the boy from a remote village of New Zealand – later, an experimenter and inventor who discovered the new branch of nuclear physics. Defining universe as an ‘atom’, he laid the foundations, which led physics to a ‘space’ – in the form of cosmic radiation.
This genius who first penetrated the heart of atom helped the younger men to penetrate the heart of stars. What is the universe made up of ? One would answer - Rocks, sand, hillocks, rivers, sea etc., until one man, Ernest Rutherford, who broke through the gross world of matter into the subtle world of atoms.
Ernest Rutherford, the Nobel Prize winner "tunneled in to the very material of God" – the atom to make the planet a better place to live in.
Unfortunate was the planet earth whose mankind transferred immense energy of atom to create the atom bomb.
The erring nations round to mutual war
And faithless faith, such as Jove kept with thee…
August 30, 1871 Birth of Ernest Rutherford in New Zealand.
1877 The Rutherford's moved to Foxhill and Ernest enrolled in school.
1882 The Rutherford's moved from Foxhill to Havelock
1886 Ernest passed entrance scholarship to Nelson College.
1893 Achieved the MA degree in mathematics and physics
1894 Ernest got his BSc degree.
1895 Won the prestigious ‘1851 Scholarship’ and sailed to Cambridge
1898 Appointed as professor of physics at McGill University
1900 Rutherford married Mary Newton
1903 Elected the Fellow of Royal Society
1907 Professor of Physics, Manchester University
1908 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
1911 Laid foundation for Nuclear Physics
1914 Public lecture by Rutherford in New Zealand
Was Knighted.
1919 Director of Cavendish Laboratory
1925 Visit to New Zealand
Appointed to the Order of Merit.
1931 Announced the Baron Rutherford of Nelson
1932 The ‘Split Atom’ experiment
October 19,1937 Lord Rutherford died and was buried at Westminster Abbey.
Work at McGill
Rutherford inspired his students. In a short span of eight years, burdened with the usual responsibilities, he was able to publish over 50 papers in the leading scientific journals. The work was carried out either by himself or in his immediate supervision. His work had opened an entire new territory in Physics, which by then was said to have been 'extinct or exhausted', by many. It was like filling the odd corners of knowledge in order to complete the picture, which already had its general outline painted. After joining McGill, he soon began the work, which had come to a standstill for a while. Before crossing the Atlantic, he had written a paper describing Alpha-Beta particles – and his work on it started in the right earnest.
Experimentation
R B Owens, a young electrical engineer and winner of scholarship at Columbia University, asked for Rutherford’s suggestion and he recommended him conduct research on mysterious particles of thorium – which possessed electric charge. Rutherford himself, continued experiments on uranium, in the same direction. The results of experiments on both the metals were compared. Soon, it was discovered that thorium and uranium acted differently. It was clear that something new emanated from thorium, which matched neither with alpha nor beta particles.
This new particle was named ‘thorium emanation’. By this time, Rutherford was as interested in thorium as his first love – uranium. Meanwhile, in some part of the world related work was on. Curie – in France, had discovered radium emanation. It was quite exciting as emanation of radium and emanation of uranium showed great amount of resemblance. But at the same time thorium emanation, which was worked upon by Owens showed odd differences.
Rutherford’s Spell
Today, it might be easy to know something about ‘radioactivity’ but then at the turn of the 19th century, physicists believed that atoms were ‘unbreakable things’ – something like tiny billiard balls, and work on them was not exactly easy. They broadened their knowledge further as they continued their experiments. His papers in journals and few innovative ideas brought him in the public gaze, the same as had by Callendar for his genius during his spell. After joining McGill, he had submerged himself in uranium and thorium.
In May 1899, he became something more than a public figure. He was invited to lecture on ‘Wireless Telegraphy’, at Ottawa, for the Royal Society of Canada, for which he was much appreciated. Now, he was a busy scientist and once wrote to Mary Newton who still was waiting impatiently for his return, that he worked in the laboratory for five nights a week, and further added that it was this continuous and unbounded energy that enabled such amount of work flow, in such a short span.
Marriage
Meanwhile, Rutherford’s personal life had reached a critical juncture. Marriage seem to take precedence over other activities. Though he was well off at finances, he still had to earn well to meet the expenses. He was also undertaking some outside work to supplement his income. While doing one such assignment, he produced an instrument to measure the atmospheric pressure. By this time, he had acquainted himself with his new and regular work. He had made up his mind to take a break from work and proceed to New Zealand to marry Mary. Finally, he managed a holiday and during the summer of 1900 he sailed to New Zealand and married Mary Newton to be called 'Man and Wife.'
It was a brief stay and by autumn of that year, he returned to Canada and to get back to his routine.
Physics – Chemistry
There was a new entrant at the University – Frederick Soddy, a chemistry man. He was 23 years old with profound knowledge of chemicals. Rutherford – a physicist was unable to draw results due to lack of knowledge on the subject, proved to be his stumbling block. The union of physics with chemistry produced extraordinary results in a very short span. The Curies had already discovered radioactive metal, and also that radioactivity works. Soddy first checked whether the same applied to thorium or not. Soon, they succeeded in identifying the main source of the radioactivity of thorium. They named it as the mysterious – thorium-X. It was found out that activity of thorium-X slowly faded and was not affected by any chemical substance when added nor did the change in temperature alter the speed of reaction. Uranium was experimented with and the results were similar, in nature.
All these results seemed to muddle the existing complications. The entire research led towards one thing and opposite to the common belief of the time – atoms were not solid billiard balls but they were 'things', which broke down into 'smaller things.'
Revolution
When Rutherford joined McGill, the great brains in the field thought that physics was almost complete and it was no use to keep on building any extra storey, when there was no one to stay in. And now, this radioactive change brought in a complete revolution – to upset all sorts of ideas that had been held by the scientific world.
The experiments proved – the combination of chemistry and physics worked to prove that an atom of uranium, radium or thorium was breaking down. This new breakthrough had pre-occupied the brains and alpha and beta particles were on hold, in this process. It took just two years – 1900 to 1902 – to change the entire history. The revolutionary theory proved the way in which the solid matter of the world was built up. Above all, the base was so strong that no critic could ever say that Rutherford had indulged in speculation.
Rutherford made a total shift from Wireless to atom full world. The shift was associated with a wonderful event in his personal life – the birth of his only child on March 30, 1901. She was called Eileen and as all daughters, she became the centre around which her father’s personal life as also his scientific world, revolved.
Senior Scientist
Rutherford, with invaluable aid from Soddy, had achieved considerable success and was now directing young workers and researchers. Among these was A S Eve, who later wrote Rutherford’s biography and who turned out to be his most promising assistant. The year 1903 brought Rutherford the greatest native award – the Fellowship of the Royal Society.
Rutherford always loved to write about his discoveries. He had written about his latest progress and it was June 1904, when the first edition of his book Radio Activity was published. It surprised the world, as a scientist wrote a book in first hand about the works he had completed. By now, Rutherford with his assistant, had worked out a series of changes that took place as radium slowly broke down. Scarcely a month passed, without some important contribution to this branch of science being announced. Meanwhile, Rutherford kept up correspondence with scientists all over the world. He kept J J Thomson duly informed about what was going on in Montreal.
Little Eileen was five and the entire family was acquainted with the Canadian surroundings. Canada, though away from the main science center, was costly too. As Rutherford was planning to settle down, a house was also planned out but a letter from Professor Schuster, changed all that.
Manchester
Professor Schuster, who was due to retire from Manchester University, wrote to Rutherford if he would be interested in applying for the position. Rutherford having long felt of being isolated from the great center of science, lost no time to get back to where the action was. In January 1907, he was appointed for the post at Manchester and Rutherford crossed the Atlantic to get back to England, in October 1907.
Alpha Particle
At Montreal, he was occupied in the 'breaking' of an atom. In due course, the mystery of beta particle was solved – they were the electrons but what remained unsolved were alpha particles. Therefore, at Manchester, Rutherford concentrated on unveiling the alpha particle. At every experiment of breaking the atom, it was seen that electrons came out normally suggesting that atom was wholly made up of electrons.
But Rutherford was seeing far inside it. Rutherford knew that Nature was not as simple, as that – in any event the electron was so light (about 1800 times lighter than hydrogen atoms) and it had a charge of negative electricity and therefore, was sure that something was ‘inside the atom’. Sir J J Thomson, his old chief, was of the opinion that no positive charge had been known to exist in any particle with less weight than that of a hydrogen atom. It was also believed, that electron could be the unit with positive electricity and hydrogen atom minus an electron – as a unit of negative electricity.
Incidentally, Rutherford had considerable argument with Sir William Ramsay – a great chemist who also was trying to solve the puzzle of radioactivity. Ramsay, who had identified many gases (including argon and neon), was also baffled with this very tiny new element coming out. It was the team of Ramsay and Soddy in 1903, which had shown that helium gas was found in the sample of radium. After various experiments, it was found that those helium atoms with electrons taken away were the mysterious alpha particles – which Rutherford was trying to identify.
Rutherford - Geiger
Rutherford as a university professor along with his wife, had his laboratory work in full swing. His chief assistant here was Hans Geiger, a young German.
Hans Geiger is still remembered as a man behind the Geiger Counter, a device still in use to count radioactive particles, thus radioactivity. Rutherford once wrote of him, "It is quite refreshing after the critical attitude of Canadian students."
It was made possible with the help of Geiger that Rutherford devised the method of counting the alpha particles emitted by radium. This happened to be the first major result from Manchester University. With the help of various radioactive substances and mathematics, it was revealed that 1,36,000 alpha particles were ejected each second from 1/1,000th gram of radium. These results appealed and fired the public imagination and he was considered to be an astonishing personality in the field of science.
Physicist getting Nobel for Chemistry
The success in research and recognition by the common man did not make him financially secure, yet. The year 1908 brought him honor and also pleased him financially. He got the Bressa Prize from the Academy of Science at Turin, Italy. The prize amounted to nearly £400 and was utilized in addressing his immediate needs in his research. The year also fetched him the highest recognition and distinction that any man could have. It was in November 1908 that he had been invited to go to Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize. As a great physicist, he was surprised to know that he had been awarded the Prize for Chemistry.
After the presentation ceremony he made a speech, in the course of which he said, that he had dealt with many transformations of different sorts in the course of time, but the swiftest he had ever met was his own transformation from a physicist into a chemist. What, of course, pleased him the most, was vanishing of the financial worries, with the Nobel Prize money that was £7000.
Great Mentor
Fame came from different quarters, between 1908 and the outbreak of World War I, in 1914. By 1908, he had gathered around him a few most brilliant brains that were to etch their names in history of scientific research. James Chadwick, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics, in 1935, for the discovery of neutron, was one among them. Niels Bohr, a mathematician who also was a Nobel winner eventually for Physics, was the other great team member. And of course, Hans Geiger who is still remembered for the invention of the instrument for measuring radiation. Fourth was H G J Moseley, a student at Trinity College, Oxford. Rutherford credited most of his work in those last years before the outbreak of the war to Moseley and Bohr. Apart from these famed personalities, there were various other students from America, Australia and New Zealand. Robert Oppenheimer – ‘Father of the atomic bomb’ also happened to be Rutherford’s student at Cavendish.
Great Small Wonder
The only small notable wonder during this period was solving the remaining part of the atomic nucleus. The alpha particle, which as per Rutherford was carrying positive charge, was somewhere inside the atom. It was clear that the electron was the outer shell of an atom. It is not known when Rutherford started thinking in the direction of atoms – like solar systems in miniature, with sun as central heavy nucleus and electrons as its planets. But one thing he was sure, that the only way to know the heavy nucleus was to smash it. Probably this was the idea which must have struck many physicists but the central problem remained as to how to do that ?
It was by 1911, when Rutherford started working on the concept. He stated that when the alpha particles are fired at a very thin piece of gold leaf, a few of them came back with great speed almost as great as that with which they were fired. A sound mathematics theory which supported Rutherford’s picture of universe, as sun - the central heavy nucleus with electrons like planets revolving around. The theory stated that atom contained a positive charge of electricity and this nucleus is revolved by a number of electrons like the planets.
This theory was to change the concept of universe, which was never thought in terms of atoms. Publishers were pressing Rutherford hard to state elaborately his work or publish a new edition of the book on Radioactivity. He updated the prior edition of the book and published it with the later investigation in 1913. In 1914, he was crowned with new honor. He was knighted by the King at Buckingham Palace. He was thus addressed as Sir Earnest Rutherford.
World War I
The later years at Manchester were happy. Before he joined the Cavendish laboratory as director in 1919, he got much recognition from all over the world. The work done by him was so absorbing that he was unable to give time to his family. But, his wife Mary was quite understanding. He had a happy home, which encouraged him to concentrate on work all the time. The idea of war gravely disturbed him as it would affect his work, in which great minds from various countries were contributing.
The threat of war though looming at large, the work on atom continued. Rutherford himself, was now least concerned with it and planned to travel giving lectures on his works. In April, he went to the US and gave a lecture at the National Academy of Sciences, in Washington.
It was decided then decided that the British association should meet in Australia. Soon, he set off for a tour on the other side of the world. At Melbourne, he gave a popular lecture on ‘Atoms and Electrons’. After the Melbourne visit, he spent a short time in New Zealand and gave a lecture at Canterbury College on ‘Evolution of the Elements’. Meanwhile, the war clouds had burst and when he returned to England it was a New England – at war.
The outbreak of war also broke the group of research students at Manchester. Those from the enemy country had returned thinking it to be a wise step. The greatest loss the war brought was loss of Moseley, a prominent research student and lecturer in the Physics Department at Manchester, who was shot dead, during the war.
The year 1915 drew Rutherford himself into the war. He was appointed as Admiral on the Board of Invention and Research. His main contribution was towards working on acoustic methods to detect submarines and to develop several new technologies. The change from alpha particles to U-boats was something considered impossible, but Rutherford succeeded at it too! He made a device named Hydrophone. This was a microphone placed at the center of a heavy metal ring. It was capable of detecting the submarine but it was useless as to detecting the direction from where it appeared. He soon was able to screen in a way that enabled the instrument to know the origin of the submarine.
The success of Sir Ernest Rutherford shows that great brains can produce fruits in any field.
France – USA
By 1917, the scenario changed with the entry of the United States in the war. The French and British governments decided to meet American experts to make them aware of this new progress of submarine detection among other things. In course of such meets Rutherford, with Commander Bridge, went first to Paris to meet French experts and fixed up the details for the visit to the US. During the short stay in Paris, Rutherford took out time and dined with a group of French scientists, which included Madame Curie, Langevin and Perrin.
Despite the wartime hazards, the short stay was enjoyed by Rutherford . He went to America where the scientist got the space to actually breathe in such a war period. He met and had lunch with British Astrophysicist residing in the United States, Professor F J M Stratton.
It seemed that Rutherford was not on any mission for war but had managed to meet great brains and exchange words with them. Later, he went to New York and Boston. Yale University honored him with a DSc degree. On receiving the news of this honor, his mother wrote to him saying that the news of the awarding of the DSc degree was "a pleasant reading for proud parents".
Rutherford at Cambridge
After the war years, he restarted his work on alpha particles and in 1919 he published the result of a complicated series of experiments. By this time it was assumed that Rutherford would settle down as Director of Physics at Manchester till the end of his active career. But early in 1919, Sir J J Thomson decided to resign from the professorship.
Rutherford, whose first love was University of Cambridge was the obvious choice as successor to Thomson. On April 2, 1919, he was officially appointed at Cambridge and joined the office in June, later that year. Finally, Rutherford had found his heaven and was contented enough to spend the remainder of his days there. He was the fourth, joining the august company of Clark Maxwell, Lord Rayleigh and Sir J J Thomson, to handle the Cavendish laboratory.
Newnham – New House
At Cambridge, the first requisite was a house. His previous stay at this place was as a bachelor and now, he had Lady Rutherford and daughter Eileen, who was 18 years of age. Sir Ernest Rutherford was fortunate as his house-hunt ended soon. They selected a house called Newnham Cottage, which was the property of Caius College.
The great brain had a peaceful and happy family life in his new home. With a co-operative wife and loving daughter, he worked with great concentration. His daughter Eileen enjoyed the social life of Cambridge, attending dance and other social functions. He always pondered on scientific problems and tried to probe deeper and deeper into the heart of nature. Soon after his appointment at Cambridge he began to build around him a group of young and eager assistants.
Neutral Particle
Ernest Rutherford made a sensation by performing the first public experiment, which proved that he had knocked hydrogen atoms out of the heart of nitrogen atoms. After settling down at Cambridge, he continued to concentrate on the alpha-particle bombardment of nitrogen, the work he was engaged in, during his final days at Manchester.
The experiment revealed that particles from nitrogen had a range of some 40 centimeters whereas no particles were emitted from oxygen. It was clear that bombardment of alpha particles was successful with only some elements. This led Rutherford to guess that primarily, the problem was electrical. The alpha particle had considerable electric charge and when the nucleus of some atom was bombarded upon, which themselves were charged, it (alpha) might strongly repel. He made a prediction of it at a lecture in 1920 that there was some particle in the atom, which was neutral and yet to be detected.
Baptizing Particles
Rutherford described the particle as neutral particle, which was to be discovered by Chadwick at the Cavendish Laboratory, 12 years later. In the summer of 1920, Rutherford suggested to name the hydrogen nuclei that carried positive charge as ‘protons’ as Thomson had named the nuclei with negative charge as ‘electrons’. The names thus stuck and are in use ever since.
Eileen’s Wedding
The year 1921 did not mark any great achievement in field of science but on domestic front, it was full of happiness for Rutherford. His only child Eileen married R H Fowler, a promising mathematical physicist, at the Chapel of Trinity College. Fowler became ‘Fellow of the Royal Society’ in 1925 and later became Professor of mathematical physics.
Isotopes
All such domestic happenings never distracted his area of concentration – isotopes. The formation of isotopes troubled him. Industrious work was carried out on isotopes by Aston. Most isotopes do not differ and to separate two sets of atoms, which are chemically identical, but which weigh 35 and 37 times as much as hydrogen atoms respectively, was not easy. The one would be double the weight than the other and therefore – Rutherford named it heavy hydrogen.
Though he was not successful at isotope research, he definitely proved to be the ‘sun’ to the new men – ‘planets’ appearing in the field and provided them the energy to keep them revolving. F W Aston got the Nobel Prize for his work on isotopes. Fredrick Soddy won the Nobel Prize in Physics in the same year. By this time, it was clear that Rutherford had revolutionized a whole realm of thought by his work and encouragement to other young men to perform.
Bursting Of Nucleus
Rutherford continued with the bombardment of atoms of various elements with alpha particles to find more of the structures of these atoms. Working with his principal assistant, Dr. Chadwick, he found few unexpected aspects of this alpha particle bombardment. They found that with some elements the alpha particle, which goes out of the chamber, had a greater range than those which came in. This was the most striking experiment of the period, which showed the bursting of atomic nucleus. Though it happened rarely, it occurred often enough to show that it was not purely accidental.
It was the first step taken in the splitting of atoms in the laboratories of the world.
Along with the experiments in 1923, Sir Ernest Rutherford was busy making his earlier work familiar to the ordinary public. All the time, he warned his listeners about the mystery of the atom and that inside the atom things might be happening which cannot be understood by ordinary physical laws.
This warning was neglected and work on it went on to bigger and more destructive 'bombs'. Had Rutherford been alive during the World War II, he would, probably have been the first person to regret the most for his discovery.
Australia – New Zealand
In 1925, after his election as the President of Royal Society, he went with Lady Rutherford on an extensive tour of Australia and New Zealand. On reaching Australia, there were a series of lectures that he addressed, at Melbourne and Sydney. He left Australia and boarded Niagara for the voyage to Auckland. The native country was being visited after years where he was given a royal welcome. He was given a free pass to go wherever he liked on the New Zealand railways and car was provided at his disposal. At New Zealand, he gave lectures at Auckland, Wellington, Nelson and Christchurch. He also visited his old school at Havelock and planted a tree there. It surely tuned out to be a trip down the memory lane.
It was to Rutherford’s great regret that the house where he was born, was pulled down. After years, he visited his parents, now aged 86 and 82. It is difficult to judge the state of mind of the old couple meeting their son after a long time to find him to be one of the world’s most famous personality. Meanwhile, still at home, he received a cable from R H Fowler announcing the birth of his granddaughter Elizabeth. After a considerable stay, they returned to England and assumed the routine life in England.
After persistent work over the years, he felt strained and at the age of 55, he said, "I want to know little more about nuclei before I retire from actual work." He was sure that his old idea about nucleus to be a hard, solid ball was wrong. Rutherford wanted the layman to understand the atom and atomic structure. In 1929, the Royal Society held a special conference on atomic nuclei. In the same year, he toured round South Africa as the British Association was meeting there. They returned to England by September. It was then, it is said that, he was faced with an odd problem – which meant he got somewhere very near to atomic bomb – though it was not made for another 15 years.
Blows – On Home Ground
It seemed that Rutherford had no personal life at all and this top-ranking man of science was in public for almost 24 hours. In 1928, when he was busy with many of these public functions, his father, James Rutherford, died in New Zealand at the age of 89.
Rutherford’s working style made many feel that his private life was pushed behind his public life, but it was not so. Rutherford had a happy life with his wife, daughter and grandchildren. Though at the end of 1930, a tragedy struck. Rutherford’s darling daughter Eileen Fowler died on December 23. She survived four children, the fourth child, barely a couple of days old when she died.
The Early 30s
The year 1931 brought him the honor of Baron. He attended the House of Lords whenever the subjects of scientific interest were to be discussed. He was very busy with his public life. He was the President of Royal Society, a member of the Houses of Lords, head of Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, all at the same time. He was a man in demand at every public occasion. Such activities were making him lose his personal touch with all the Cambridge workers.
He was guiding two brilliant men. Dr Walton and Dr Cockfort who later became Sir John Cockfort, head of Great Britain’s first atomic energy station at Harwell for inventing a gigantic machine intended to bring a real atomic transformation. The first result obtained through it was given to Royal Society, which sounded quiet and sober. But those who were aware knew that they saw the emergence of a new age – the Atomic Age. From 1932, though he did work as much as what he had in past, yet, now he did everything to encourage the youth like Chadwick, Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett and many others.
Up till now, atomic energy was seen as constructive energy but its destructive capacity was first seen in the laboratory in 1932. ‘Atoms Split !’ was what the press people termed it. What was done was this : Lithium plus hydrogen forms helium. Elements could be artificially transmuted in the laboratory – it meant that world had become a less stable place. Then too, Hiroshima was never thought or imagined of.
The year 1933 brought cheer to him as heavy hydrogen, as he named isotopes, which was not possible to manufacture on large scale earlier, was now possible.
In 1934, he inaugurated a new research laboratory of the United Steel Companies at Stocks-bridge in Yorkshire. In his address he said, "I know nothing more deadening than keeping a man’s nose firmly fixed to the grind stone’ and further added ‘No laboratory today … is self-sufficing." In 1935, his mother whom he had corresponded with regularly, and to whom he had attributed to, much of his success, died in July 1935, at the age of 92.
Last Years
Rutherford always contributed in scientific journals providing information on the developments in his works. In 1937, Rutherford published a book The Newer Alchemy, which happened to be his final work. The book was widely acclaimed.
He spent his 66th birthday happily at his cottage in Wiltshire. All his life, he remained a healthy and an industrious man. He was entered at the hospital for minor operation, when he sustained minor injury while cutting some tree in his compound. He was recovering well but on October 19, he said to Lady Rutherford, "I want to leave a 100 pounds to Nelson College. You can see to it."
Whether he had some premonition or call it fate, but he suddenly died on October 19, 1937, leaving behind, a shocked and grieving world.
• Life’s a great thing and I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.
• We don’t have the money, so we have to think. On Splitting the Atom
• I have broken the machine and touched the ghost of matter. Commenting on the theoretical Physicists work on atomic energy
• They play games with their symbols, but we, in the Cavendish, turn out the real solid facts of Nature.
• All I could say would be that the theoretical physicists have got their tails up, and it is time we experimentalists pulled them down again. Commenting on the possibilities of misuse of atomic energy –
• The greatest contributor to the feeling of tension and fear of war arose from the power of the bombing aeroplane. If all nations would consent to abolish air bombardment…that would mean the greatest possible release from fear. Humorous Quote
• I have long held the opinion that for six months of the year, Canada is only suitable for polar bears. On His Vocation
• All science is either physics or stamp collecting.
• Honors kept on flowing regularly, for Ernest Rutherford. He was awarded the greatest native honor in 1903, that could come to any British scientist – his getting elected for the Fellowship of the Royal Society.
• Recognition further came to this man in the form of Presidency of Physics Section of the Royal Society of Canada in 1906.
• Rutherford reached the highest peak, which any man of science can attain, receiving the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1908.
• In 1914 before the war broke out, Rutherford was knighted by the King at Buckingham Palace. Now Ernest Rutherford was addressed as Sir Ernest Rutherford. Congratulations poured in from all around the world.
• In 1921, he became one of the Commissioners of the 1851 Exhibition. Years before, it was because of this scholarship that he got his first chance to work at Cambridge.
• The Royal Society honored Rutherford by presenting the Medal, the highest honor the Society could bestow.
• The year 1925 brought immense admiration and affection for Rutherford, for he was elected as the President of the Royal Society.
• He was touched and flattered when he was presented the Order of Merit. On this honor Rutherford said that he appreciated the award, not as recognition of himself as a person but rather as recognition by King George V who valued science immensely.
• In 1931 Rutherford was announced a Baron of Nelson. He decided not to change his name and took the name Earnest Lord Rutherford.
• Rutherford’s image appears on New Zealand’s $100 note, that country’s largest denomination on paper currency.
He was the recipient of many honorary degrees, and foreign and colonial societies showered him with honors of one sort or the other. By the end of his life he had been awarded degrees by not less than 23 universities belonging to different parts of the world
