Ernest Rutherford
By Joshua J. Tobey
Ernest Rutherford is one of modern day science’s founding fathers. Did you know Ernest Rutherford was the Father of nuclear physics? Did you know without Ernest Rutherford, we would not know of nuclear physics? Without nuclear physics, we would not have TVs or cell phones. Can you imagine what our world would be like without those things? Rutherford started as a poor farmer, but with hard work and education, he became a famous scientist and professor, who inspired many and achieved many awards, including the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for identifying the parts of an atom.
Rutherford's early years were filled with inspiration to become a hard worker and a great student. The Rutherford family history begins in New Zealand. The Rutherford’s helped build the base for what New Zealand is today by being early settlers. Around 1763, New Zealand was discovered, and inhabited by the natives, known as the Maori (Pasachoff, 14). When New Zealand was settled by the British, around 1843, Rutherford's father, James and his family were some of the first to settle there (Pasachoff, 15). Rutherford’s mother, Martha Tompson, was thirteen when she arrived in New Zealand in the town of New Plymouth, in 1855 (Pasachoff, 15). During the period of 1845-1872, there were land disputes between the Maori and the settlers, which forced Martha and her family to leave their home in New Plymouth and head north to Nelson in 1860 (Pasachoff, 15). James and Martha met and were married in 1866. At the time, Martha was 24 years old, and James was 23 years old (Pasachoff, 16). James’ occupation was as a farmer, growing wheat, carrots, and potatoes. Martha was a teacher and made sure her children were well educated (Pasachoff, 18).
Ernest Rutherford was born on August 30, 1871 in Nelson, New Zealand (Pasachoff, 16). He was the fourth of twelve children. Both Martha and James were dedicated to the belief that knowledge is power (Pasachoff, 16). Since there was no TV or Internet, the family would have spelling bees and quiz each other on their school subjects, as well as sing songs and hymns next to the piano (Pasachoff, 18). The Rutherfords were a very active family, and they were either farming the many crops James grew, learning, or out playing. One day in 1883, the Rutherfords experienced personal loss. Their youngest boy, Piercy, died of whooping cough. Five years after that Piercy’s death, the family experienced another loss. Ernest’s two older brothers, Herbert and Charles, both died on a fishing expedition (Pasachoff, 21).
Rutherford began going to school at Foxhill Elementary at the age of five. Ernest stayed there for a year before moving schools to Havelock Elementary, due to his father buying a flax mill in the nearby city of Havelock (Pasachoff, 20). When Rutherford finished at Havelock, he was accepted to Nelson Collegiate School (Pasachoff, 24). In 1889 Ernest Rutherford graduated from Nelson Collegiate School and received a University Scholarship to the University of New Zealand, Canterbury College (Pasachoff, 29). During his time at the university, each year Rutherford earned a twenty-pound prize, or one hundred U.S. dollars, for being top of his math class (Pasachoff, 29). While at Canterbury, sometimes Rutherford would head back home for vacation, where he would help out by schooling his three youngest sisters (Pasachoff, 31). He graduated from Canterbury College in 1893 with a “double first in mathematics and physical science” (Pasachoff, 30). Later, Rutherford received a B.S. degree in 1894 also from Canterbury College. That same year he won an 1851 Science Scholarship, allowing him to go to Cambridge University (Pasachoff, 41) When Rutherford found out he won, he was farming potatoes, because he was still expected to help out around the house. When his mother ran out to tell him he said, “That is the last potato I will ever dig” (Pasachoff, 9). At Cambridge, Rutherford studied under J.J. Tompson, who was famous for discovering the electron, in Cavendish Laboratory. In 1897, Ernest received a B.A. research degree at Cambridge (Pasachoff, 31).
Rutherford did a lot of research on frequency, magnetic activity, radioactivity, and nuclear physics in his time. All of his education, hard work, and research lead to Rutherford being one of the greatest scientists ever. He has studied many different subjects, and in each one, he left his imprint by breaking records, making discoveries.
On his eleventh birthday Ernest Rutherford received a science book which said, “This book has been written, not so much to give information, as to endeavor to discipline the mind by bringing it to connect with nature herself.” (Pasachoff, 19) This book helped inspire him to begin working in science (Pasachoff, 19). Rutherford’s experiment began with testing gravity using peas and a tin pan.
Rutherford’s first actual research began while attending Cambridge. The research concerned, “the properties of iron when exposed to high frequencies” (Nobelprize.org, biographical). Later, he continued his research with a thesis on magnetic properties of iron. This experiment was one of the first original experiments to use high frequency (Nobelprize.org, biographical). He later invented a device that detects electromagnetic waves. With this device, he broke the world record for longest sent and received wireless wave. (Nobelprize.org, biographical)
Over the next year, the money Rutherford received from the 1851 Scholarship was no longer covering the expenses of his research. When Rutherford approached J.J. Thomson, he advised that Rutherford should apply for another 1851 Science Scholarship. When Rutherford applied, the board provided him with a two year scholarship as well as 250 pounds, or $1,250 (Pasachoff, 51). During that time, Rutherford was looking for a stable job. McGill University, located in Montreal, had an opening for a physics professor, Rutherford eagerly signed up (Pasachoff, 52). Rutherford found it funny to be teaching men his own age about physics, and hoped it would turn out all right (Pasachoff, 55). Fortunately for Rutherford, he turned out better than all right, he lead several researchers at McGill, and would develop radioactivity and nuclear physics (Pasachoff, 55).
Just before setting out, Rutherford ordered thorium and uranium salts, which were bits of matter that contains just enough of the original substance, and had them shipped to McGill University (Pasachoff, 56). The thorium and uranium salts were needed to continue his research. Once Rutherford completed his trip to McGill across the atlantic sea, he dove into his research. Soon Rutherford discovered “emanation.” The properties of emanation were not like thorium itself. Rutherford’s conclusion was that they must have been from a different substance (Pasachoff, 57). Rutherford later discovered that this substance was a gas known as vadon, similar to helium (Henderson, 26) Rutherford noticed that half of the radioactivity in these substances dissipated in one minute (henderson, 27). When rutherford tried to measure the amount of energy half-life produced, he saw a tremendous amount (Henderson, 27) After seeing the large amount of energy, Rutherford predicted nuclear power plants and nuclear bombs (Henderson, 28) Rutherford immediately published his work because he thought that the discovery of radioactivity was a race, and saw himself lagging behind (Pasachoff, 58). In order to “win the race” Rutherford recruited Frederick Soddy to help him out. This partnership was what solved the mystery of basic radioactivity and came up with Rutherford's famous Atomic theory (Pasachoff, 58). The atomic theory explained that radioactive elements actually disintegrate over time and turn into other elements (Pasachoff, 59). In 1910, Rutherford recreated a model of the atom, stunning everyone and winning the Nobel Prize (Pasachoff, 79-80). This was by far his greatest achievement.
Rutherford’s teaching career took off in his later years, but that didn’t stop him from doing his best. Rutherford's teaching career spanned over many different universities and colleges, where he taught physics and inspired students to begin their own research. In 1907, Rutherford taught physics at Langworthy University. (Nobelprize.org, biographical) Later, in 1919, Rutherford returned as a physics professor to Cambridge University. (Nobelprize.org, biographical) In 1921, Rutherford became a board member for the 1851 Science Scholarship at Cambridge. While Rutherford was on the board, funds for scholarship were running low. Some members said they should not give out any of the 1851 Science Scholarships. When Rutherford found out he sputtered, “If it weren't for those scholarships, I wouldn’t be here” (Nobelprize.org, biographical). The board decided to continue to award scholarships.
Rutherford died at the age of sixty-six, from surgical complications (Pasachoff, 105). Rutherford was destined to become a scientist. He began studying in his childhood, and studied as well as innovated for the rest of his life. He left his mark in history, as well as in our everyday lives. Rutherford was the founding father of nuclear physics, and allowed for us to have TVs and cell phones. Rutherford started as a poor farmer, but with hard work and education, he became a famous scientist and professor, who inspired many and achieved many awards, including the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for identifying the parts of an atom.