It did not take long for word of Ernest Rutherford
to spread throughout the scientific community. In 1898, when the
chair of the physics department at McGill University in Montreal,
Canada was open, Rutherford was contacted to fill the position.
Though he was only 28 years old, he accepted the job and was eager to
begin his research. One draw back was that Rutherford had to
leave the well-equipped Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge
University. The laboratory at McGill still considered to be
adequate for the time period, but it was not at the same level as
Cavendish. McGill proved to be the site of Rutherford’s first big
discovery. In 1900, while working with Frederick Soddy of Oxford
University, Rutherford developed the “disintegration theory” of
radioactivity. Previously, it was thought when radioactive
material disintegrated, it was due to molecular disintegration.
Rutherford showed that this was due, however, to the spontaneous
disintegration of atoms. He proved this to be true by compiling
vast amount to experimental results. From this, Rutherford was
able to develop a useful application of the half-life. This
method was used to calculate the age of the earth, which turned out to
be longer than most scientists previously thought.
In 1907 Ernest Rutherford transferred to the
University of Manchester and took over as the head of the physics
department there. He began researching, mainly focusing on the
alpha particle and the atom. It was at Manchester in 1909 that
the Rutherford gold foil experiment was performed, revealing new
information about the internal structure of the atom. In 1911 he
announced his description of the atom as having a small, tightly
compacted nucleus surrounded by mostly open space.
In 1919 Ernest Rutherford returned to the Cavendish
laboratory at Cambridge University, replacing Sir J.J. Thomson as the
director. By performing experiments in which atoms were
artificially accelerated and smashed into one another, he discovered
artificial disintegration. This propelled Rutherford into the
field of nuclear physics, gaining the title of “the father of
physics.” Also, under his direction in the Cavendish laboratory,
Rutherford’s team discovered the neutron.
