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Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson, was a New Zealand physicist and chemist who was a pioneering researcher in both atomic and nuclear physics. He has been described as "the father of nuclear physics" and "the greatest experimentalist since Michael Faraday." In 1908, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances."

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“Radioactivity is shown to be accompanied by chemical changes in which new types of matter are being continually produced. … The conclusion is drawn that these chemical changes must be sub-atomic in character.”
— "The Cause and Nature of Radioactivity" in Philosophical Magazine (September 1902)
“It was almost as incredible as if you fired a 15-inch shell at a piece of tissue paper and it came back and hit you.”
— From a lecture delivered on October 15, 1936 at Cambridge University, discussing the result of an experiment in 1909 where alpha particles were scattered backwards when fired at a thin sheet of metal foil, which led to the discovery of the atomic nucleus. The full lecture was reprinted in Background to Modern Science: Ten Lectures at Cambridge arranged by the History of Science Committee 1936.
“An alleged scientific discovery has no merit unless it can be explained to a barmaid.”
— As quoted in Einstein: The Man and His Achievement (1973) by G. J. Whitrow, p. 42
“I must confess it was very unexpected and I am very startled at my metamorphosis into a chemist.”
— On his 1908 Nobel Prize in chemistry, as quoted in Nobel Laureates and Twentieth-Century Physics (2004) by Mauro Dardo, p. 69
“"...Rutherford never spent more than £2500 a year on his research programme. He resisted suggestions that an industrial appeal might provide him with more money and he did not believe in the economic significance of any of the work he was doing. He used to boast that ‘we have no money, so we shall have to think’."”
— As written by Lord Bowden (worked under Rutherford c. 1931); in "Effects of World War II on education in science", Bowden 1975
“I have broken the machine and touched the ghost of matter.”
— As quoted by Richard Reeves, A Force of Nature The Frontier Genius of Ernest Rutherford (2008) citing Ernest Rutherford Atom Man

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

Notable quotes

“Radioactivity is shown to be accompanied by chemical changes in which new types of matter are being continually produced. … The conclusion is drawn that these chemical changes must be sub-atomic in character.”
— "The Cause and Nature of Radioactivity" in Philosophical Magazine (September 1902)
“It was almost as incredible as if you fired a 15-inch shell at a piece of tissue paper and it came back and hit you.”
— From a lecture delivered on October 15, 1936 at Cambridge University, discussing the result of an experiment in 1909 where alpha particles were scattered backwards when fired at a thin sheet of metal foil, which led to the discovery of the atomic nucleus. The full lecture was reprinted in Background to Modern Science: Ten Lectures at Cambridge arranged by the History of Science Committee 1936.
“An alleged scientific discovery has no merit unless it can be explained to a barmaid.”
— As quoted in Einstein: The Man and His Achievement (1973) by G. J. Whitrow, p. 42
“I must confess it was very unexpected and I am very startled at my metamorphosis into a chemist.”
— On his 1908 Nobel Prize in chemistry, as quoted in Nobel Laureates and Twentieth-Century Physics (2004) by Mauro Dardo, p. 69
“"...Rutherford never spent more than £2500 a year on his research programme. He resisted suggestions that an industrial appeal might provide him with more money and he did not believe in the economic significance of any of the work he was doing. He used to boast that ‘we have no money, so we shall have to think’."”
— As written by Lord Bowden (worked under Rutherford c. 1931); in "Effects of World War II on education in science", Bowden 1975
“I have broken the machine and touched the ghost of matter.”
— As quoted by Richard Reeves, A Force of Nature The Frontier Genius of Ernest Rutherford (2008) citing Ernest Rutherford Atom Man

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

Overview

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Ernest Rutherford

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Ernest Rutherford

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Where does Ernest Rutherford rank?

Ernest Rutherford across IJR

Overview

Notable quotes

Notable quotes

Overview

Ernest Rutherford across IJR

Where does Ernest Rutherford rank?