Rutherford Revisited

摘要

Perhaps we should begin with a nod towards the late great Ernest Rutherford or, to show proper respect, to Baron Rutherford of Nelson. May 2011 marked the centenary of his announcement of the discovery of the nucleus. Rutherford did pretty well. He was born in 1871, fourth of twelve children of a New Zealand wheelwright cum farmer of Scottish descent. He died in 1937 after a distinguished academic career at Cambridge and elsewhere, a revered physicist and member of the House of Lords. In 1908 he won the Nobel Prize (for chemistry yet) and spent the ￡7000 on presents for his parents and numerous siblings and on a motor car for himself and his wife.