Ernest Rutherford (1871 - 1937)

His early research explored radioactivity & he discovered two distinct types of radiation - alpha & beta

11 Dec 1908: Ernest received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry

Awarded for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements & radioactivity

Description of the Nobel Prize ceremony held at Stockholm given by Ernest's wife Mary (May) Rutherford

May had attended university at Canterbury College & was the niece of Sir Isaac Newton, the curator of the British Museum

In 1899, Ernest discovered two distinct types of radiation which he called alpha & beta

In 1911, Ernest & Niels Bohr proposed model of an atom having a nucleus around which electrons circulate

in 1917, Ernest created an artificial nuclear reaction named 'splitting the atom' which occurred in later research

30 Aug 1871: Ernest Rutherford born at Spring Grove (now Brightwater) near Nelson. He was called 'Ern' by his family.

Ernest was the fourth of 12 children to Martha (school teacher) & James Rutherford (wheelwright, engineer & flaxmiller)

James, a Scotsman, arrived NZ in 1843 as 4 yr old. Martha (neé Thompson) arrived from England in 1855 aged 13.

During Taranaki Land War in 1860, Martha evacuated from New Plymouth to Nelson where met James & they married in 1866

Green silk wedding dress worn by Martha on 28 April 1866 when married James in Spring Grove

Martha became a teacher at the Spring Grove School & received favourable reports from the provincial school inspector

House where Ernest was born & taught by his mother to read & know his multiplication tables to 12 before starting school

When Ernest was 5, family moved to a farm at Foxhill, where he attended school. He was awarded a class prize in 1878.

1882: Family moved to Havelock where father James had established a flaxmill. Baby Percy died of whooping cough in 1883.

From 1883-86, Ernest attended Havelock School

1885: Family portrait: Rear, from left: Herbert, Ernest, James; front, from left: Alice, Martha, Charles.

1886: Brothers Herbert & Charles drowned when boating in Marlborough Sounds

5 Jan 1887: Won Marlborough Education Board scholarship to Nelson College (£40 a year)

From 1887-1889, Ernest attended Nelson College as a boarder

19 Dec 1887: Received the Stafford scholarship & Classical scholarship, and the Principal's prize for English reading

27 Dec 1887: Advert to rent family's nine-roomed house at Foxhill, with one acre of land

24Jan 1888: Advert to sell the house & 34 acres of land, stable, two dairies etc at Foxhill

On 30 Jan 1888, family moved to New Plymouth & James & two sons set up flaxmill at Pungarehu. (James was still boarding)

1889: After family villa built near flax mill, Martha & 6 younger children who'd stayed at New Plymouth joined James

As Ernest was still boarding at Nelson College, he would visit during the school holidays

1889: Nelson College prize-giving: received Simmons Prize, Form VI Classics & Latin, Senior Mathematics. Was head boy.

Ernest's basement den at Canterbury College where he carried out his research

He rented a room with widowed landlady Mrs Newton & met her daughter Mary (May) who was also the niece of Isaac Newton

May also attended Canterbury College & met Ernest's family in the holidays. (They were eventually married in 1900.)

1893: Studied high frequency magnetisation of iron & developed timing device to switch circuits under 100,000th of sec

1894: Delivered a paper on magnetisation of iron at the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury which he'd joined in 1892

1894: First research paper published on higher frequencies using discharging Leyden jars & a Hertzian oscillator

1895: Received the '1851 Research Fellowship' and studied at the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge

c.1895: Ernest included in a group photo. J.J. (John Joseph) Thomson led the Cavendish Laboratory since 1884.

Ernest's research room where he measured high frequency dielectric properties of materials using his magnetic detector

Ernest's Fellowship was renewed in 1896 & then extended for a further year for 1897

Ernest studied Hertzian or radio waves & succeeded in transmitting a signal a mile away in Feb 1896

During 1895. radio waves were also being investigated by Marconi who invented the wireless telegraph in 1896

1898: Ernest & colleague Frederick Soddy found 2 types of emissions come from radioactive atoms - alpha & beta rays

In 1899, Ernest discovered a radioactive gas (later named radon) which he discussed at British Assoc. meeting in 1903

1900: Elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, & awarded MSc from McGill University

In 1900, Ernest visited NZ to marry May in Christchurch on 28 June. (Being employed, he could now provide for them.)

Ernest & May returned to Montreal & their only child, Eileen Mary, was born on 20 March 1901

1901: Awarded D.Sc. by the New Zealand University. Now known as Dr Rutherford.

In 1903, Ernest discovered radium emits 'massive, positively charged particles, which are probably atoms'

1903: Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of London for his investigations into radioactivity

19 May 1904: Ernest delivered Bakerian lecture "The succession of changes in radio-active bodies" to the London Society

1904: As lead was the final decay product of uranium, Ernest proposed rate of decay would allow minerals to be dated

1904: Awarded Rumford medal for discovery of the existence & properties of gaseous emanations from radio-active bodies

1905: Ernest delivered a lecture on 'Radioactive transformations" at Silliman Memorial Lectures held at Yale University

1905: Ernest published 2nd edition of his work on "Radio-activity"

1906: Awarded LL.D. by Universities of Pennsylvania & Wisconsin. (Photo: Ernest & colleagues at McGill Univ, 1906)

1907: Accepted role of Professor of Physics at Manchester University. Was awarded LL.D by McGill University.

1908: Ernest gave a lecture at the Royal Institution on "Recent Researches on Radio-Activity"

1908: Ernest (R) & Hans Geiger developed electrical method of detecting single particles emitted by radioactive atoms

Replica of Rutherford & Geiger electrical detector of single ionizing particles which Geiger perfected as Geiger counter

March 1908: The Turin Academy of Science awarded Ernest the Bresa Prize for radioactive work

Nov 1908: Update from Ernest sent to Scientific Weekly on his work on atomic disintegration

Jan 1909: Update on Ernest's work showed an alpha particle, when its charge is neutralised, is a helium atom

1910: Ernest is seated, centre of middle row, with staff from Manchester University physical & electro-technical labs

1910: Ernest (seated 4th on right) with colleagues. That same year, his sister Alice Elliott died on 5 Aug

1910: Ernest wrote the entry on radioactivity for the 11th edition (1910) of the Encyclopædia Britannica

30 Oct - 3 Nov 1911: Attended 1st Solvay Conference in Brussels, Belgium. (Standing 4th from right)

1914: Ernest and other scientists visited NZ after attending the Science Congress held in Australia

6 Sept 1914: Gave lecture at Wellington Town Hall on "The Transformation of matter and the structure of the atom"

1914: Knighted Sir Ernest Rutherford

In 1917, Ernest split the atom by changing nitrogen into hydrogen & published his research in 1919

WWI: Ernest on the Imperial Board of Munitions set up by the British Govt & assisted US with submarine & other services

During WWI, Ernest & Prof W. H. Bragg involved in research on acoustic methods of detecting submarines

1919: Ernest dissolved the element nitrogen into two other known elements, helium & hydrogen

April 1919: Ernest appointed Professor of Experimental Physics & Director of Cavendish Laboratories at Cambridge Univ

Bought a cottage across the River Cam from Cavendish Lab. Daughter Eileen married mathematician Ralph Fowler in 1921.

Sept 1920: Gave 3 lectures at Copenhagen University on atoms and isotropes, & received degree of Doctor Honoris Causa

1921: During a debate in Britain, Ernest was in favour of women receiving the same privileges & rights as men at College

1922: Ernest became President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science following his nomination

1922: Elected Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Science & elected Honorary Member in 1925

Nov 1922: The Royal Society of London awarded the Copley Medal for Ernest's research in radioactivity & atomic structure

Nov 1923: Evening Post reports Sir Rutherford to speak at the British Association Congress & extols his experiments

1920s: Elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians

1924: Franklin medal & Certificate from Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, was presented for radioactivity discovery

1925: In New Year's Honours the Order of Merit was conferred on Sir Ernest Rutherford

29 Oct 1925: Sir Ernest Rutherford visited his old school at Havelock

During his NZ visit, Ernest lectured on the atom & its structure. He also advocated Govt support education & research.

Nov 1925: Degree of Honorary Doctor was conferred on Ernest at the Sorbonne

In 1926, the New Zealand DSIR was formed. Ernest becomes Chairman of the Advisory Council from 1929-37.

1925-1930: Ernest was President of the Royal Society of London

23 May 1926: Ernest's father James passed away

Obituary for James Rutherford

1930: Ernest awarded the Faraday Medal for electrical science research

24 Dec 1930: Daughter Eileen Fowler died of a blood clot, 9 days after birth of fourth child (had 2 sons & 2 daughters)

Jan 1931: Awarded Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of New Zealand which was their first honorary degree

1931: Made a Baron. Coat of arms: kiwi, Māori warrior, & Hermes Trismegistus - patron saint of knowledge & alchemists

1931-33: President of the Institute of Physics which was inaugurated in 1920 & first met on 27 April 1921

1932: Ernest with group of scientists in Munster, Germany

1932: Further experiments on splitting the atom carried out by Dr. E. T. Walton, Lord Rutherford, & Dr. J. D. Cockroft

In 1932, Ernest's colleagues Cockcroft & Chadwick discovered the neutron

Chadwick found a new projectile & Cockcroft & Walton showed how nuclei of atoms could be disintegrated (split the atom)

3 Dec 1932: Ernest announced theory that gamma rays arose from the motions of alpha particles in the nucleus

1 Jan 1933: Studio portrait of Ernest's mother Martha

1933-37: President of the Academic Assistance Council - helped German scientists & scholars displaced by Hitler

1934: Ernest & Mark Oliphant discover H3 (tritium) & He3 (helium). (RNZ interview with author Andrew Ramsay, 2019)

Aug 1934: Lord Rutherford (left) & High Commissioner for NZ Sir James Parr sampling millionth case of Nelson apples

1934: Portrait of Ernest Rutherford, his left hand on a pile of books & a retort to his left. Painted by Oswald Birley.

16 July 1935: Ernest's mother May (born 29 Oct 1842) passed away aged 92 years

10 Dec 1935: Opened new L.M.S. Research Laboratories at Derby for research on maintenance & upkeep of railway services

Plaque at Brightwater marking the birthplace of Ernest Rutherford

The memorial to Ernest Rutherford at Brightwater features a statue of him as a young boy

Memorial wall at Havelock dedicated to NZ scientists Ernest Rutherford & William Pickering opened in 2003

Ernest Rutherford plaque at University of Canterbury (formerly Canterbury College)

Aug 1971: Ernest Rutherford Centenary of Birth Medal by the Franklin Mint, United States

1972: Video (18.06 min): 'Rutherford of Nelson' traces his life and work, & continuing contact with NZ

1992: Ernest's image began to appear on the $100 note. His image also appeared on a stamp issued by NZ Post.in 2008.

In 1997, synthetic chemical element 'rutherfordium' named in his honour. Mineral 'rutherfordine' was named in 1906.

2018: RNZ Audio (13.33min): Science Story - The legacy of Ernest Rutherford

2018: Interview with great granddaughter Dr Mary Fowler who opened Rutherford Regional Science and Innovation Centre