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BIOGRAPHIES OF GREAT SCIENTISTS
Ernest Rutherford. Biography of a scientist
Directory / Biographies of great scientists
Ernest Rutherford was born on August 30, 1871 near the town of Nelson (New Zealand) in the family of a migrant from Scotland. Ernest was the fourth of twelve children. His mother worked as a rural teacher. The father of the future scientist organized a woodworking enterprise. Under the guidance of his father, the boy received good training for work in the workshop, which subsequently helped him in the design and construction of scientific equipment. After graduating from school in Havelock, where the family lived at that time, he received a scholarship to continue his education at Nelson Provincial College, where he entered in 1887. Two years later, Ernest passed the exam at Canterbury College, a branch of the University of New Zealand at Crichester. In college, Rutherford was greatly influenced by his teachers: E. W. Bickerton, who taught physics and chemistry, and J. H. H. Cook, a mathematician. After being awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1892, Rutherford remained at Canterbury College and continued his studies on a scholarship in mathematics. The following year, he became a master of arts, having passed the exams in mathematics and physics with the best of all. His master's work concerned the detection of high-frequency radio waves, the existence of which was proven about ten years ago. In order to study this phenomenon, he built a wireless radio receiver (a few years before Marconi did) and with it received signals transmitted by colleagues from a distance of half a mile. In 1894, his first printed work, Magnetization of Iron by High-Frequency Discharges, appeared in the New Zealand Philosophical Institute Proceedings. In 1895, a scholarship for scientific education was vacant, the first candidate for this scholarship refused for family reasons, the second candidate was Rutherford. Arriving in England, Rutherford received an invitation from J. J. Thomson to work in Cambridge in the Cavendish laboratory. Thus began the scientific path of Rutherford. Thomson was deeply impressed by Rutherford's research into radio waves, and in 1896 he proposed to jointly study the effect of X-rays on electrical discharges in gases. In the same year, the joint work of Thomson and Rutherford "On the passage of electricity through gases subjected to the action of X-rays" appears. Rutherford's final paper "The Magnetic Detector of Electric Waves and Some of Its Applications" is published next year. After that, he completely concentrates his efforts on the study of a gas discharge. In 1897, his new work "On the electrization of gases exposed to X-rays, and on the absorption of X-rays by gases and vapors" appears. Their collaboration was crowned with significant results, including Thomson's discovery of the electron, an atomic particle that carries a negative electrical charge. Based on their research, Thomson and Rutherford hypothesized that when X-rays pass through a gas, they destroy the atoms of that gas, releasing an equal number of positively and negatively charged particles. They called these particles ions. After this work, Rutherford took up the study of atomic structure. In 1898, Rutherford accepted a professorship at McGill University in Montreal, where he began a series of important experiments concerning the radioactive emission of the element uranium. Rutherford, during his very laborious experiments, was quite often overcome by a dejected mood. After all, with all his efforts, he did not receive sufficient funds to build the necessary instruments. Rutherford built much of the equipment necessary for the experiments with his own hands. He worked in Montreal for quite a long time - seven years. The exception was 1900, when, during a brief trip to New Zealand, Rutherford married Mary Newton. They later had a daughter. In Canada, he made fundamental discoveries: he discovered the emanation of thorium and unraveled the nature of the so-called induced radioactivity; together with Soddy, he discovered radioactive decay and its law. Here he wrote the book "Radioactivity". In their classic work, Rutherford and Soddy touched on the fundamental question of the energy of radioactive transformations. Calculating the energy of alpha particles emitted by radium, they conclude that "the energy of radioactive transformations is at least 20 times, and maybe a million times, the energy of any molecular transformation." Rutherford and Soddy concluded that "the energy , hidden in the atom, is many times greater than the energy released during the usual chemical transformation. This enormous energy, in their opinion, should be taken into account "when explaining the phenomena of space physics." In particular, the constancy of solar energy can be explained by the fact that "processes of subatomic transformation are taking place on the Sun." It is impossible not to be astonished at the foresight of the authors, who as early as 1903 saw the cosmic role of nuclear energy. This year was the year of the discovery of this new form of energy, about which Rutherford and Soddy spoke with such certainty, calling it intra-atomic energy. The scope of Rutherford's scientific work in Montreal is enormous, he published 66 articles, both personally and jointly with other scientists, not counting the book "Radioactivity", which brought Rutherford fame as a first-class researcher. He receives an invitation to take the chair in Manchester. On May 24, 1907, Rutherford returned to Europe. A new period of his life began. In Manchester, Rutherford launched a vigorous activity, attracting young scientists from around the world. One of his active collaborators was the German physicist Hans Geiger, the creator of the first elementary particle counter (Geiger counter). E. Marsden, K. Fajans, G. Moseley, G. Hevesy and other physicists and chemists worked with Rutherford in Manchester. Niels Bohr, who arrived in Manchester in 1912, later recalled this period: "At that time, a large number of young physicists from different countries of the world were grouped around Rutherford, attracted by his extraordinary talent as a physicist and rare abilities as an organizer of a scientific team." In 1908, Rutherford was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his research on the decay of elements in the chemistry of radioactive substances." In his opening speech on behalf of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, K. B. Hasselberg pointed out the connection between the work carried out by Rutherford and the work of Thomson, Henri Becquerel, Pierre and Marie Curie. "The discoveries led to a startling conclusion: a chemical element ... is capable of transforming into other elements," Hasselberg said. In his Nobel lecture, Rutherford noted: “There is every reason to believe that the alpha particles, which are so freely emitted from most radioactive substances, are identical in mass and composition and must consist of the nuclei of helium atoms. We, therefore, cannot but come to the conclusion that the atoms of the basic radioactive elements, such as uranium and thorium, must be built, at least in part, from helium atoms." After receiving the Nobel Prize, Rutherford began to study the phenomenon that was observed when a plate of thin gold foil was bombarded with alpha particles emitted by such a radioactive element as uranium. It turned out that with the help of the angle of reflection of alpha particles it is possible to study the structure of the stable elements that make up the plate. According to the then accepted ideas, the model of the atom was like a pudding with raisins: positive and negative charges were evenly distributed inside the atom and, therefore, could not significantly change the direction of the movement of alpha particles. Rutherford, however, noticed that certain alpha particles deviated from the expected direction to a much greater extent than allowed by theory. Working with Ernest Marsden, a student at the University of Manchester, the scientist confirmed that a fairly large number of alpha particles are deflected further than expected, some at more than 90 degrees. Reflecting on this phenomenon. Rutherford proposed a new model of the atom in 1911. According to his theory, which has become generally accepted today, positively charged particles are concentrated in the heavy center of the atom, and negatively charged particles (electrons) are in orbit of the nucleus, at a fairly large distance from it. This model, like the tiny model of the solar system, implies that atoms are made up mostly of empty space. The widespread recognition of Rutherford's theory began when the Danish physicist Niels Bohr joined the scientist's work at the University of Manchester. Bohr showed that the well-known physical properties of the hydrogen atom, as well as the atoms of several heavier elements, could be explained in terms of the structure proposed by Rutherford. The fruitful work of the Rutherford group in Manchester was interrupted by the First World War. The war scattered the friendly team across different countries at war with each other. Moseley, who had just glorified his name with a major discovery in X-ray spectroscopy, was killed, Chadwick languished in German captivity. The British government appointed Rutherford a member of the "Admiral's Staff of Inventions and Research" - an organization created to find means of combating enemy submarines. In Rutherford's laboratory, therefore, studies began on the propagation of sound under water in order to provide a theoretical justification for determining the location of submarines. Only at the end of the war, the scientist was able to resume his research, but in a different place. After the war, he returned to the Manchester laboratory and in 1919 made another fundamental discovery. Rutherford managed to artificially carry out the first reaction of the transformation of atoms. By bombarding nitrogen atoms with alpha particles. Rutherford discovered that oxygen atoms are formed in this process. This new observation was another proof of the ability of atoms to transform. In this case, in this case, a proton is released from the nucleus of the nitrogen atom - a particle that carries a unit positive charge. As a result of research carried out by Rutherford, the interest of specialists in atomic physics in the nature of the atomic nucleus has sharply increased. In 1919 Rutherford moved to the University of Cambridge, succeeding Thomson as professor of experimental physics and director of the Cavendish Laboratory, and in 1921 he took up the position of professor of natural sciences at the Royal Institution in London. In 1925, the scientist was awarded the British Order of Merit. In 1930, Rutherford was appointed chairman of the government's advisory board to the Office of Scientific and Industrial Research. In 1931, he received the title of Lord and became a member of the House of Lords of the English Parliament. Rutherford strove to ensure that the scientific approach to the fulfillment of all the tasks entrusted to him contributed to the multiplication of the glory of his homeland. He constantly and with great success proved in authoritative bodies the need for all-round state support for science and research work. At the height of his career, the scientist attracted many talented young physicists to work in his laboratory at Cambridge, including P. M. Blackett, John Cockcroft, James Chadwick and Ernest Walton. The Soviet scientist Kapitsa also visited this laboratory. In one of the letters, Kapitsa calls Rutherford the Crocodile. The fact is that Rutherford had a loud voice, and he did not know how to manage it. The powerful voice of the master, who met someone in the corridor, warned those who were in the laboratories of his approach, and the employees had time to "collect their thoughts." In "Memoirs of Professor Rutherford" Kapitsa wrote: "He was rather dense in appearance, taller than average, his eyes were blue, always very cheerful, his face was very expressive. He was mobile, his voice was loud, he did not know how to modulate it well ", everyone knew about it, and by intonation it was possible to judge whether the professor was in the spirit or not. In all his manner of communicating with people, his sincerity and spontaneity were immediately evident from the first word. His answers were always short, clear and precise. When he "Something was told, he immediately reacted, whatever it was. You could discuss any problem with him - he immediately began to talk about it willingly." Although this left Rutherford himself with less time for active research work, his deep interest in ongoing research and clear leadership helped to maintain a high level of work carried out in his laboratory. Rutherford had the ability to identify the most important problems of his science, making the still unknown connections in nature the subject of research. Along with his inherent gift of foresight as a theoretician, Rutherford had a practical streak. It was thanks to her that he was always accurate in explaining the observed phenomena, no matter how unusual they may seem at first glance. Students and colleagues remembered the scientist as a nice, kind person. They admired his extraordinary creative way of thinking, recalling how he happily said before the start of each new study: "I hope this is an important topic, because there are still so many things that we do not know." Concerned about the policies pursued by the Nazi government of Adolf Hitler, Rutherford in 1933 became president of the Academic Relief Council, which was set up to assist those who fled Germany. Almost to the end of his life, he was distinguished by good health and died in Cambridge on October 19, 1937, after a short illness. In recognition of outstanding achievements in the development of science, the scientist was buried in Westminster Abbey. Author: Samin D.K.
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