Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937), the father of nuclear physics, left his mark on scientific research at the start of the 20th century.
Discover the exceptional destiny of the man who described himself as a simple man and turned out to be a great scientist, a committed humanist, a loyal friend and a role model for his teams.
Created to mark the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of his birth in 2021, this site presents every facet of Ernest Rutherford's life: the people who counted, the places where he lived or worked, the institutions in which he was involved, his discoveries... and so much more.
biographical milestones
30
08
1871
1890
1895
1898
1907
1919
19
10
1937
NELSON
& PROVINCE
1900
Marries May
1901
Eileen born
1908
1914
Knight
1911
Atom model
1931
Encounters
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To be continued...
Hover over the faces to see the names; click to read the full stories.
To locate the towns where Rutherford worked, see the world map on the Places page.
*The nationalities at the time of the meeting are also indicated, using the current ISO-3 codes.
This is a simplification, since some people changed nationality during their lifetime (Albert Einstein, Lise Meitner, etc.) and some countries were dismembered or restructured during the 20th century.)
Ernest Rutherford inventions and discoveries
See also the page presenting Rutherford's " crafts "
Hover over the images to reveal the explanations.
Use the arrows to see the different discoveries.
Rutherford's magnetic detector of hertzian waves 1896
Studying from the beginning radioactivity (discovered by Becquerel in 1896), Rutherford demonstrated that there are 2 types of radioactive emissions: alpha, attracted by a negative electrified plate, and beta, deflected towards the positive one. Paul Villard then discovered a third type of radiation which he named gamma. Legend: 1-Radioactive source 2-Lad container 3-Charged plates 4-Photographic plate
Sir Ernest Rutherford's research room, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University, were he discovered the proton.
Rutherford's magnetic detector of hertzian waves 1896
about the project
The elements presented on this site are the result of research carried out over the past ten years with the aim of writing a fictionalized biography of Ernest Rutherford (see the " novel " page).
My ambition was not to write a physics textbook, but to introduce readers to the man, the friend, the father, the committed character that was Ernest Rutherford.
The purpose of this site is to highlight the characters, places, institutions in which he was involved, and so many other details (expand the objects menu ) that allowed me to build my work.
Moreover, I do not claim that this site is exhaustive: it focuses on the elements that seem to me the most meaningful and it is written in a succinct manner, so as to remain easy to access and (I hope) attractive. .
Other biographies, some of which are more technical, can already complete the picture (see the list of my sources).
Finally, even if the first part of the novel has been published in 2021 and the second one in 2023, the writing of the following parts is still in progress: I therefore still collect documentation and this site is consequently meant to evolve.