Ernest Rutherford was born in Nelson, New Zeland in 1871. He began work in J.J. Thompson´s laboratory in 1895. He later moved to McGill University in Montreal

where he became one of the leading figures in the field of radioactivity. From 1907 on he was professor at the University of

Manchester where he worked with Geiger and Marsden.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize for

Chemistry in 1908 for his work on

radioactivity. In 1910, with co-workers

Geiger and Marsden he discovered that

alfa-particles could be deflected by thin metal foil. This work enabled him to propose a structure for the atom. Later on he

proposed the existence of the proton and predicted the existence of the neutron. He died in 1937 and like J.J. Thompson is

buried in Wesminster Abbey. He was one of the most distinguished scientists of his

century.

1871--1937

Lord Ernest