Places of Ernest Rutherford's life
Brussels (Belgium)
The central position of Brussels in Europe undoubtedly explains why it was (and still is) chosen for many international events, scientific or not. But another reason justifies Ernest Rutherford's frequent visits to the Belgian capital: industrialist Ernest Solvay's passion for science.
Rutherford visits to Brussels
1910: radiology congress
1911: Solvay congress
1912: Solvay physics institute
1913: Solvay congress
1921: Solvay congress
1924: Solvay congress
1933: Solvay congress
Pictures :
Photo of Place de Brouckère, Brussels, at the beginning of the 20th century. © KIK-IRPA,
Poster for the 1910 Brussels Universal Exhibition by Henri Cassiers
Brussels, old plan of the Center by Kiessling and Imbreghts, source: Harvard University
1910: International Congress of Radiology and Electricity
As part of the International Exhibition held in Brussels from April to November 1910, a scientific congress is organized to discuss the latest developments in the field of radioactivity and its applications, both for research and for medicine. .
500 scientists are gathered for the occasion. They represent more than twenty countries, mainly European, but there are also five Japanese, including Hantarō Nagaoka, an American, who is none other than Bertram Boltwood, a friend of Rutherford, and a researcher from McGill University in Montreal, English by birth, but chosen to represent the country in which he works. It is Arthur Stewart Eve, former colleague and another good friend of Rutherford and who will become his official biographer.
The other personalities whose names are still known in our time (especially in France) are Marie Curie, Paul Langevin and Jean Perrin.
The opening of the congress takes place in the Salle des Fêtes of the exhibition, installed at the edge of the Bois de la Cambre (south-east of the city).
The rest of the debates, organized in different sections, take place in the buildings of the Université Libre de Bruxelless, in the center of the city, between the Royal Palace and the Ste-Gudule cathedral.
An evening at the Théâtre de la Monnaie is planned, to attend a performance of Manon, by Jule Massenet. On this occasion, Marie Curie and Ernest Rutherford are seated side by side. They leave the room at the intermission: Marie Curie, ill, wanted to go back to bed. Ernest Rutherford takes her back to the Hôtel du Grand Miroir, located rue de la Montagne.
The congress, in spite of some valid interventions, will be on the whole a disaster, because of a deplorable organization.
However, this resulted in the creation of an International Commission for Radium Standards , essential to have a reference for all activities requiring the use of radioactive materials.
Sources :
The International Congress of Radiology and Electricity, Brussels, September 13-15, 1910 , by Boltwood, Bertram B. (downloaded as PDF)
The International Congress of Radiology and Electricity, by Walter Makower, in Nature, October 13, 1910
T he Curies: a biography of the most controversial family in science by Denis Brian, page 121
Marie Curie , by Henry Gidel
Marie Curie, by Susan Quinn, pages 264-265
Rutherford, Simple Genius , by David WIlson, page 253
1911: First Solvay Physics Congress
Scientific events bringing together major figures in physics and chemistry, the Solvay congresses were born from the will of two men: the German Walther Nernst and the Belgian Ernest Solvay.
The first one, physicist and chemist and director of the Institute of Physical Chemistry at the University of Berlin, dreamed of being able to bring together his most eminent or promising colleagues, but did not have the necessary financial means. He found an ally in the person of Robert Goldschmidt, a Brussels resident he had had as a student in Göttingen. Goldschmidt had also worked with the Belgian industrialist Ernest Solvay.
The latter had made his fortune thanks to a process for producing soda, used all over the world (including, of course, in his own factories, in Belgium or France). He was eager to invest his money in the development of science.
Goldschmidt put the German physicist and the Belgian industrialist in contact. They then agreed that the chemistry tycoon would pay all the costs related to the conference, while the Berlin professor would take care of the organization.
It was therefore the German who established the list of prospective participants and wrote the letter of intent attached to the invitation sent (confidentially) in mid-June 1911. He also proposed the Dutch Hendrik Lorentz to chair the debates.
The latter had the perfect profile for this role, not only because he was multilingual and gifted with a real diplomatic talent, but also because he was himself a specialist in quanta. Indeed, the theme defined for this first scientific conference was: "The theory of radiation and quanta".
The first participants met on October 29, 1911 at the Hôtel Métropole, place de Brouckère, in Brussels.
The exchanges were obviously of a very high standard. The report was drawn up by two French participants, Paul Langevin and Maurice de Broglie, and published the following year, under the title: "La théorie du rayonnement et les quanta. Rapports et discussions de la réunion tenue à Bruxelles, du 30 octobre au 3 novembre 1911, sous les auspices de M. E. Solvay." which means : "The theory of radiation and quanta. Reports and discussions of the meeting held in Brussels, October 30 to November 3, 1911, under the auspices of Mr E. Solvay. "
The full text is available on the Archive.org website
This gathering was also immortalized by the photograph below, on which several characters mentioned in this site appear: Ernest Rutherford, of course, fourth man standing, starting from the right, not far from Paul Langevin and Albert Einstein (1st and 2nd in the same row). Einstein subsequently referred to this meeting as a "witches' sabbath".
Marie Curie is easily identifiable: she was the only woman present at these congresses for 20 years. But it was not the worst for her to endure.
Indeed, this conference was a real success and allowed to launch a tradition of international cooperation around the most innovative ideas in science. But for Marie Curie, the last hours spent in Belgium were a real ordeal.
View of Place de Brouckère around 1905 (the Hôtel Métropole is the largest and lightest building in the row on the right).
Source: CarFree.com
Interior of the Hôtel Métropole
(Winter Garden)
Source: Hervé Vanden Haute, architect (other images of the hotel on the site)
The video below, produced by the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Department of Libraries & Scientific Information, explains the roles of each person, as well as the evolution of relations between participants from various European countries which only three years later, will go to war one against the other.
Marie left Brussels in a hurry and took months to recover from the "Langevin-Curie" affair. It was Ernest Rutherford who explained to her in writing the latest advances at the Solvay congress. However, before posting his letter, he discovered a piece of news in the newspaper which made him add an additional sheet to the envelope for his Parisian colleague: he indeed insisted on sending her his most sincere congratulations for the award of her second Nobel Prize - which was the first she received in her own right, without sharing it with her late husband.
It was only a few words, but Marie herself, before fleeing the Belgian capital, had written a quick message for Ernest : despite the upheavals she was experiencing, she wanted to thank him for his kindness and support.
But let us return to the trials which began for Marie Curie towards the end of this scientific conference.
Without going into details, while Marie Curie and Paul Langevin were talking about science in the company of the greatest luminaries of the moment, the Parisian press unveiled the affair that the two French scientists had maintained for over a year. Langevin cheated on his wife (who made his life difficult), and this attitude was reproached to him; but it was above all Marie, this "foreign couple breaker", who was attacked with the most vehemence possible, insulted, dragged through the mud and, above all, invited to "return to her country". But her country was France: it was there that she had obtained her doctorate, made her greatest discoveries and known the love of her life, Pierre Curie.
Article published on the front page of the newspaper Le Petit bleu du matin (Brussels) on November 5, 1911 (one of the few newspapers to defend Marie Curie).
Source: Royal Library of Belgium (By clicking on the link, you will access the entire edition of this day and you can zoom in to read the full article).
Sources :
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T he Curies: a biography of the MOST controversial family in Science by Denis Brian, page 131
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Marie Curie , Henry Gidel
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Marie Curie, Susan Quinn, pages 264-265
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Marie Curie , Reid, Robert William, page 194 and following
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Une femme honorable, Françoise Giroud, page 223
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Rutherford, Simple Genius , David Wilson, pages 262-264
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Einstein and the Quantum: The Quest of the Valiant Swabian , A. Douglas Stone, pages 149-150
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Einstein Specific Heats and the Early Quantum Theory , Martin J Klein, page 148
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On the first Solvay Congress in 1911 , Norbert Straumann, in Albert Einstein papers, Princeton University
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The Einstein almanac , Alice Calaprice
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Before the fallout: from Marie Curie to Hiroshima , Diana Preston, page 40
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GOLDSCHMIDT (Robert Benedict), biography , Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences
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L'Indépendence Belge 05-11-1911 , page 4
1912: Founding meeting of the Solvay Physics Institute
1913: Second Solvay Physics Congress
Personalities described on this site:
From left to right :
Standing: Ernest Rutherford - William Henry Bragg - Paul Langevin
Seated: Joseph John Thomson - Marie Curie - Hendrik Lorentz - Albert Einstein
Source: International Institutes of Physics and Chemistry Solvay and Benjamin Couprie,
“Second Solvay Physics Council, group photographs (1) & (2),”
The Solvay Science Project , © Solvay Institutes, © Archives ULB 2020,
To be continued...
1921 : Troisième Congrès de Physique Solvay
1924: Fourth Solvay Physics Congress
1933: Seventh Solvay Physics Congress
