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Ernest Rutherford.

Family

James Rutherford and Martha Thompson were married in 1866. James became a wheelwright and engineer, and later a flax-miller. According to family tradition, he maintained that the family had migrated "to raise a little flax and a lot of children". In line with this aphorism, they had, in fairly rapid succession, twelve children, of whom Ernest, afterwards Lord Rutherford,was the fourth.

Ern as he was known led the life typical of a child growing up in rural New Zealand. The family always maintained a small farm to provide basic foodstuffs and augment its income. This meant that all the children shared tasks such as milking and harvesting but the countryside gave ample opportunities for swimming and the use of the catapults and kites that they made.

As a boy Ernest was surrounded by hard-working people with technical skills. At the same time, the family as a whole was regarded as consisting of gifted individuals. Ernest later claimed his inventiveness was honed on the challenges of helping out on his parents' farm, where the motto was ‘We don't have the money, so we have to think’.

George and Barbara Rutherford travelled to New Zealand on the ‘Phoebe’, leaving London on 16th November 1842 and arriving on the 29th March 1843 in one of the earliest landings of New Zealand Society settlers in the Nelson area. George had been engaged to come to New Zealand to erect a sawmill for Captain Thoms at Motueka. At this time Ernest’s father James was five years old.

Education

Though the fifth of thirteen children, physicist Ernest Rutherford was certainly a unique mind. His contributions to nuclear physics were historic, and much of his greatest research was completed while working at the University of Manchester.

From 1890-1894 Ernest went to Canterbury College (now the University of Canterbury). He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Masters of Arts in Mathematics, Mathematical Physics and Physics of Science. Again Ernest registered at the university so he could study Geology and Chemistry for a Bachelor of Science. This meant he would be eligible for a scholarship allowing him to study overseas.

Adult Life

In 1895 Ernest Rutherford left New Zealand to study as a research student at the Cavendish Laboratory Cambridge. Professor J.J. Thompson, the head Cavendish Laboratory invited Rutherford to work with him because he noticed Ernest’s ability.

After radioactive atoms were discovered in 1896 Rutherford became interested in radioactivity. Radioactive atoms gave off two types of rays, he named them alpha and beta rays, he discovered this in Montreal. At McGill University, Rutherford accepted the opportunity to become the professor of physics.

In 1900 Rutherford came back to New Zealand for a short amount of time so he could marry Mary Newton. They had one child called Eileen who was born in 1901.

He carried on with his research, he also discovered radon, a radioactive gas. Another thing he discovered was that heavy atoms break down into lighter atoms. Rutherford was elected fellow of Royal Society of Canada in 1900. He was also elected fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1903.

In 1904 Ernest Rutherford published his first book called 'Radioactivit

In 1907 Rutherford was given a position at Manchester University which he accepted, Ernest and a colleague called Hans Geiger developed a method that identifies and measures radioactive atoms using electricity

Rutherford was given the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908.

The memorial to scientist Ernest Rutherford (1871 – 1937) at Brightwater features a statue of him as a young boy. Rutherford was born at nearby Spring Grove

This year will mark the 75^th anniversary of the death of Ernest Rutherford, who deserveсs some new reflections. He was the greatest experimental physicist of the 20^th century, and one of the most creative and influential scientists of all time. During his lifetime, he was admired by his scientific peers and by the public as much as was Albert Einstein. Many historians of science think that his overall achievements were even more substantial than Einstein's.