Ernest Rutherford and the birth of modern physics

Wright, Matthew, 1962-2025

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Summary

How key concepts in modern physics came from the work of a New Zealander whom Einstein labelled 'a second Newton'. By the mid-nineteenth century, physicists believed they had discovered the last secrets of the universe. Then a new world opened up- one of waves, particles, and new, fundamental forces. This mysterious world swiftly captured the public imagination, not least because of the technical revolution that emerged from it, giving the world everything from radio to TV, X-ray machines, smoke detectors, and more. One of the key movers of this new world was Ernest Rutherford, a no-nonsense New Zealander who became as popularly known as the 'father of the atom' in recognition of his pioneering role in particle physics. But he was far more than that. Through his roles at Manchester University and then the Cavendish Laboratory in England, he steered a new generation of highly influential physicists such as Niels Bohr, helping to shape much of the way we understand physics today - from quantum mechanics to the 'standard model' of particles. This book explores the discovery of that science, using Rutherford's life as a vehicle to steer the journey. It explains just why this science seized the public imagination of the day, and why Rutherford's contribution was integral not just to the technical revolution of the twentieth century, but to the way we now understand the nature of the universe. And it explains how that science works, in terms clear to the widest readership.