Scientists
Ernest Rutherford
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Ernest Rutherford was a New Zealand-born physicist who discovered the atomic nucleus through the 1909 gold foil experiment, establishing the nuclear model of the atom. He received the 1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the disintegration of elements and radioactive substances.
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Rutherford's 1911 nuclear model, built on the gold foil scattering results, showed that atoms have a small dense nucleus and internal structure rather than being the featureless, indivisible units Dalton's 1808 theory assumed; the finding refines Dalton's postulate of indivisibility without disturbing his core claim that matter is made of discrete atoms combining in fixed ratios.
Founded
Invented
Supervised Hans Geiger's development of the original 1908 particle-counting apparatus at the University of Manchester.
Member Of
Cavendish Professor and director of the laboratory, 1919 to 1937.
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