DEATH OF SCIENTIST LORD RUTHERFORD

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22865, 21 October 1937, Page 14

DEATH OF SCIENTIST

LORD RUTHERFORD

GEEAT NEW ZEALANDER OPERATION PROVES FATAL UNIQUE ACHIEVEMENTS FAMED FOR RESEARCH WORK By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright LONDON. Oct. 10 The death Has occurred of Lord Rutherford of Nelson, the famous New Zealand scientist, following upon the operation he underwent yesterday. The most distinguished New Zealander in the world of science, and internationally famous for nis researches into the electron and radio activity, Ernest, Baron Rutherford, of Nelson, has been described as Britain's master scientist, and tho greatest experimenter in the world. Titles, honours and degrees _ were showered upon him in recognition of his greatness, but he remained a quiet, tpodest man, with a delightful sense of humour, and a facility for being interested in evcry-day topics. Anything but the " long-haired professor." a term which fell humorously from his lips, he was unwilling to live in a world apart and delve exclusively into abstruse science. Though ho had with his genius for experiments and* research attained heights of knowledge which the ordinary man could scarcely estimate, Lord Rutherford nevertheless had tho capacity of explaining in ordinary language the nature of his own discoveries, and those of other scientific leaders. He was a keen motorist, enjoyed golf, was likely to crack a joke in the middle of some scientific explanation, and, according to a writer who knew him, might easily have been mistaken for a practical farmer. Studious as a Youth A quiet, studious youth of 19, Ernest Rutherford, the son of a working farmer in the Nelson district, left Nelson College with a New Zealand University Scholarship in 1889. In less than 20 years he had become one of the world's greatest scientists in the realm of phvsics and chemistry, numbering the Nobel Prize for chemistry among the honours conferred upon him. When he returned to the Dominion on a visit in 1925 he was one of tho 24 distinguished men belonging to the Order of Merit. Still greater honours were to come, including to the peerage. He was the first New Zealander to be so honoured. In his early youth young Rutherford showed promise. He was born at Nelson on August 30, 1871, the fourth child of Mr. and Mrs. James Rutherford, and was a clever student at both primary school and Nelson College. The scholarship which took him to Canterbury College, Christchurch, was, perhaps, one of the most important awards he ever gained, as it was the opening that led to his great career. Intense Love of Research

Vigorous but not particularly brilliant as a footballer, interested mildly in boating and tennis, but not in dancing because, it is said, had no dress suit, he specialised in science at Canterbury College. In his final two vears he was almost constantly m the laboratory, and had already been gripped by that intense love of research which later was to make his name 8 Even at that age ho had ideas and designs for a magnetic detector of wireless signals that were later turned to good account. . Having taken his M.A. degree with first-class honours in mathematics and physics, and his B.Sc., Rutherford was awarded an 1851 Exhibition Science Scholarship, which took him to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1895. He reached Cambridge at a fortunate moment.

Early Work at Cambridge The workers at the Cavendish Laboratory, under the leadership of Professor Sir J. J. Thomson, were about, to explore new fields in which the importance of the electron was to c " be a guiding principle. Rutherford did a great deal of research, and when in 1896 Becquerel made his great discovery of the radio-activity of uranium, the subject drew the New Zealander. In the following year he was awarded a B.A. research degree, and the Coutts- . Trotter Studentship at Trinity College. New opportunities were afforded the young scientist in 1898, and Rutherford, although only in his 28th year, was ' appointed Macdonald Research Professor of Physics at McGill University, Montreal. Great progress was made, numbers or distinguished scientists working with Rutherford, and finally they formulated a new theory on the subject of radioactivity.

World-Famous Awards For his discoveries. Professor Rutherford was awarded the Royal Society s Rumford Medal. He went to Manchester as Langworthy Professor and director of the physical laboratories at the Manchester University in 1907, and, assisted by a capable group of research students and colleagues, pursued his great work, proving that the atom, instead of being something solid, must have an open structure, which he suggested resembled a small planetary seal was set on his already famous reputation in 1908, by the award of the Bressa Prize by the lurin Academy of Science, and selection as Isobel prize-winner, for chemistry. Ihe two awards in the one year acclaimed Professor Rutherford's genius. He was knighted in 1914, and five years later became Cavendish Professor of Physics at' Cambridge. The years failed to dim Sir Ernest s genius. In 1923 he was president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and in an appreciation of Sir Ernest's work the Australian scientist, Sir W. H. Bragg, recorded that the importance and volume of the work at the Cavendish Laboratory and the enthusiasm of the men engaged on it were evidence that he had not lost any of bis old powers. He possessed the keen love of research for its own sake. Elevation to Peerage Raised to the peerage in 1931, Sir Ernest became Baron Rutherford. Lord and Lady Rutherford, who had no sons, lost their only daughter, Mrs. Eileen Fowler, of Cambridge, only a week before the publication of the New Year Honours announcing Sir Ernest's new title, and sympathisers were glad to think that the news had come to lighten a period of sorrow. 'Further discoveries of major importance were announced by Lord Rutherford, following a period of intensive research into the atomic nucleus. To the man in the street, Lord Rutherford became known as the man who succeeded in splitting the atom. Only among the scientists of the world was the true significance of his work appreciated, and his death has occurred at a time when lie could ill be spared. Britain and tho world have lost one of their greatest scientific brains, and a man who was at the zenith of his powers. It was announced only last month that he would preside at the Science Congress to be held in Calcutta next January. Lord Rutherford was one of 12 children. A number of his relatives live in various parts of the North island. Mr. George Rutherford, of Mount Eden, is a brother, and Mesdames H. G. Sergei, of Hamilton, and G. H. Streiff, of''Shaftesbury) Te Aroha. sisters.