Rutherford, Ernest

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New Zealand-born British physicist. He was a pioneer of modern atomic science. His main research was in the field of radioactivity, and he discovered alpha, beta, and gamma rays. He was the first to recognize the nuclear nature of the atom in 1911. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1908 for his work in atomic disintegration and the chemistry of radioactive substances.

Rutherford produced the first artificial transformation, changing one element to another (1919) by bombarding nitrogen with alpha particles and getting hydrogen and oxygen. After further research he announced that the nucleus of any atom must contain hydrogen nuclei; at Rutherford's suggestion, the name ‘proton’ was given to the hydrogen nucleus in 1920. He speculated that uncharged particles (neutrons) must also exist in the nucleus. In 1934, using heavy water, Rutherford and his co-workers bombarded deuterium with deuterons and produced tritium. This may be considered the first nuclear fusion reaction. He was knighted in 1914, and created Baron in 1931.

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