PROFESSOR RUTHERFORD.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 190, 6 May 1908, Page 8

PROFESSOR RUTHERFORD.

A DISTINGUISHED NEW ZEALANDER. WINNER OF THE BRESSA PRIZE, A MANCHESTER APPRECIATION. (From tho " Manchester Guardian.") 1 Professor Ernest Rutherford, F.R.S., of the Manchester University, to whom for his ■ researches in radio-activity has been awarded 1 tho Bressa Prize of tho Turin Academy of Science, has for some years had a reputation world-wide among scientists. But the award- ■ ing to him of the Bressa Prize will go t now towards making his reputation universally world-wide; for its significance is that his researches and discoveries during the past three years are, in tho opinion of the Turin Academy of Science—a scientific body of weight—the most distinguished and important that have been mado during that period in any branch of science. Ho has, in fact, made some most notable contributions to our knowledge of the mutability of matter and of tho evolution of the atom, a doctrine which ten years ago had not sccured acceptance. .... Manchester cannot, perhaps, lay claim to having been in at the making of Professor Rutherford's name, for he has been at the University for little more than six months, and the work by which he won distinction was done before 110 came here.- But thoro is satisfaction in the fact that when the Turin searchlight sought him out it found him among us. And it is perhaps not beyond hope that Manchester may even yet share in some future " find," for Professor Rutherford is still pursuing his investigations here, and, judging from the fact that- " you can never tell when he'll leave his 'lab.' arid go homo" (a college servant's reply as to tho Professor's hours), 110 seems to-be again . liard 011 the trail of something unusually j interesting. ' Professor Rutherford is a New Zealander. He" was born at Nelson nearly thirty-seven years ago, and went to school there,' leaving with a scholarship that took him to Now Zealand University.. He entered Canterbury Collcgo, Christ-church, at tho age of eighteen, and three _years later graduated B.A.j and won a senior scholarships In.tho following year ho took. his; M.A. with first-class- honours • in : mathematics and physics," and a year ,later, in 1894, his B.Se., 'gaining, too, the 1851 Exhibition Scholarship. With this he came to. England and entered ,Trinity ; College, Cambridge. It was in. the Cavendish Laboratory- tliero that-his.physical'researches wero begun. Hp .did a great deal of: work bearing on cathode rays and ionisatiori which admirably-equipped him-for,, and no'doubt attracted'him later towards, seeking to elucidate the; many 'arid complex phenomena t connected ■ with iadib-activo substances. Tn- . 1896 . Becquerel made- his ; great discovery f of : radio-activity .in uranium j. and ; I;hb 5 . subject seems • -to .■ havo.' 'had an ;immc--3 diatb/attraction . for Professor ;Rutherford, 1 for lie set to work'on it at once, and soon ) wrote, a. paper • dealing with it, in a manner 3 that, attracted .considerable, lio'tieo. ...In. 1897 - he was awarded a- degree arid » the .CoiittsrTrottor Studentship. at Trinity i> College.. . ! • '■■ V "/• , • A GREAT OPPORTUNITY.. . " • His'. twenty-eignth . year. (1898)'. was >. a ' important one for .Professor' Ruther? ford,' for.' in it two things happened • that " went a long ,way towards, shaping his.fut'nrd career. .First,,.Schmidt -and Madamo;Curio, discovered, almost; ...simultaneously ; that ■ the. compounds .of thorium 'had the; samo- radio- . active; prdporties as' urariiuin, 1 arid' further.-'iri- ». vestigatibn; by Madamo .Curie arid her 'litis-., u band brought about the discpvories. of .polo--1 nium . and radiuni as now. and distinct snb0' stances, witli! radio-active properties. Later, y actinium was added to tlio, list',by Debierne. t Tho- second event in this yearwa3 that - Rutherford -was 'appointed to'< succeed Pror fessor H. 'H. Caflendar (formerly also of ? Cambridge) as'Macdonald Research Profcs--0 sor of; Physics at tho M'Gill University, 1 Montreal. Thus in . the one year Professor y Rutherford' had. opened before him in. tho e Curie-Schmidt discoveries, a, vast; and a ally untrodden' tract of ground for .research y. and' laid -atf'his' disoosaralong •• with:.tho 0 Macdonald-'Professorship, 'one" of tho .finest ', physical laboratories that, thought and money 0 could equip.; With opportunity and 1, tion thus liarid-iri-hand, great headway was t, made.' ■' 1 - . -. 11 : Of iiriportant results from Professor Ruth; d erford's tesea'rch at -Montreal thero' were r many; too many and complex to give ;in detail, but tlio.-chief of-them may be enumerated. ..He found that thorium gave off. what, seemed a kind of gas which had thovremark-' e ablo. property of depositing an, invisible filni ,f of matter on the-surf ace of- other, substances t about : it, - rendering . thom ' radio-active too. g To'this he gave the name' " emanatiori," and •_ with.fhe assistance..of . a pupil .he .succeeded d in. measuring, the; rate of diffusion .of .the 0 emanation - from radium. -. He proved v also y that tho emanation was a gas arid i soparato n and distinct form ,of matter.'.. About this jj time Professor , Rutherford . was' ' joined l by j.- Mr. Soddy, from :Oxford.. -They we're, trying ' e together the effect of Varying the physical .. conditions.■.-(temperature,'.' etc.) upon -. the j omanating- power -,of. radio-active; substances 7 a wJien .they discovered that. in . the , case'- of , thprium tlio emanation occurred from .a' subJ' stance -.which could ,be separated. from thorj| iiim. From this they we're able tp .fo'ririulato 0 quite a-new theory on the subject-fof radioactivity. It .was . this: That' radio-activity, is an atomic phenomenon accompanied by chemical changes in which. new . types of matter. are produced; that the chaiigcs must occur within the : atom,' and that : the radioactive .-substance'' must b'o in a state of " transformation.- This tlieory. on its aiinoiince- :- ment ..was loudly assailed from many quard ters, ;but Professor Rutherford stoutly dey fended it, and submitted his proofs. 'Now O this theory is universally accepted.'. With its ;• announcomout the speculation was mado'that '■ the presence.of helium in minerals-associated with" uranium'and thorium might have some- " tiling to do .with tboir radio-activity. Two '> years latei-i in 1904, this forecast was proved •? to have' been a true-one, tlio' presence of d helium.'.being bbsdrved'in the spectrum of | r the radium emanation. BRILLIANT -WORK. Dr. Rutherford (tho degree of D.Sc. was conferred'oil Him by New. Zealand, University •) in 1901) went deeply irito tho question: of d tho threo different kinds of ray given off by radium, and their qualities. The. heating '• property of radium, most of which, lie ® is duo -to the emanation, was examined and " measured. Radio-tellurium, ; , arid . "polonium 5' wero next put in their right order, in the r family-of radiuin. products—by this time "six ■ in number. , Tho: theory of rayless changes was , advanced and investigated, the; results being published. in . a Bake'rian Lecture de--1 livered before the Royal Socioty in 1905. In recognition of his brilliant-work Dr. Ruthe'ris ford was the' following year awarded the is Rumford. Medal by the Society. -His .textr. books on radio-activity, are the recognised le books on the'subjcct. 'They include V'Radio--11 activity" (1904) and " Radio-active Traris- !, formations " (1906); and there aro, 'besides, 1- numorous papers in the Transactions of : tho is Royal Socioty,' the- !'Philosophical Magaa zine,". and other scientific journals. - d Professor Rutherford's investigations and 10 discoveries at the M'Gill University attracted s. to the college students-from all parts .of the e world who,wero anxious to work under him. e Among them wero Dr. Godlewski,' of Poland, n who eventually made several discoveries of d somo importance; Dr. Halm, of Frankfurt, > who discovered radio-thoriurii; Dr. Levin, of "• Gottingen ; Dr. Bronson, Eve, arid others of noto. - Dr. Rutherford follows his k pupils' work and tho result's closely, advising, crit-, e icising, and prompting, it is said, with all the enthusiasm possible Wero' tho investigations quite his own. And the'number .of his e pupils who! have jvhilo working under him. jj been accredited with discoveries of noto which ho might hiihself have claimed show's ,1 his worthiness of. the reputation he has for ; 0 open-handedness in the matter of " sharing tho credit." As Langwortliy Professor and 0 Director of Physics at Manchester Univer--0 sity-Dr. Rutherford is carrying still, further , r the investigations ' lie made' while at Morin treal, drawing for tho purpose' on a large 1. supply of radium which has been placed at e his disposal for research work by the-Aus-u trian Academy of Science. Hp has here, air. i, in Montreal, a- number of investigators workunder his. direction on radio-aotiviiy.