nature。 at fifteen； stillschoolmastering； he took a job in the nearby town of kendal； and a decade after that hemoved to manchester； scarcely stirring from there for the remaining fifty years of his life。 inmanchester he became something of an intellectual whirlwind； producing books and paperson subjects ranging from meteorology to grammar。 color blindness； a condition from whichhe suffered； was for a long time called daltonism because of his studies。 but it was a plumpbook called a new system of chemical philosophy； published in 1808； that established hisreputation。
there； in a short chapter of just five pages （out of the book’s more than nine hundred）；people of learning first encountered atoms in something approaching their modernconception。 dalton’s simple insight was that at the root of all matter are exceedingly tiny；irreducible particles。 “we might as well attempt to introduce a new planet into the solarsystem or annihilate one already in existence； as to create or destroy a particle of hydrogen；”
he wrote。
neither the idea of atoms nor the term itself was exactly new。 both had been developed bythe ancient greeks。 dalton’s contribution was to consider the relative sizes and characters ofthese atoms and how they fit together。 he knew； for instance； that hydrogen was the lightestelement； so he gave it an atomic weight of one。 he believed also that water consisted of sevenparts of oxygen to one of hydrogen； and so he gave oxygen an atomic weight of seven。 bysuch means was he able to arrive at the relative weights of the known elements。 he wasn’talways terribly accurate—oxygen’s atomic weight is actually sixteen； not seven—but theprinciple was sound and formed the basis for all of modern chemistry and much of the rest ofmodern science。
the work made dalton famous—albeit in a low…key； english quaker sort of way。 in 1826；the french chemist p 。j。 pelletier traveled to manchester to meet the atomic hero。 pelletierexpected to find him attached to some grand institution； so he was astounded to discover himteaching elementary arithmetic to boys in a small school on a back street。 according to the scientific historian e。 j。 holmyard； a confused pelletier； upon beholding the great man；stammered：
“est…ce que j’ai l’honneur de m’addresser à monsieur dalton？” for he couldhardly believe his eyes that this was the chemist of european fame； teaching a boyhis first four rules。 “yes；” said the matter…of…fact quaker。 “wilt thou sit downwhilst i put this lad right about his arithmetic？”
although dalton tried to avoid all honors； he was elected to the royal society against hiswishes； showered with medals； and given a handsome government pension。 when he died in1844； forty thousand people viewed the coffin； and the funeral cortege stretched for twomiles。 his entry in the dictionary of national biography is one of the longest； rivaled inlength only by those of darwin and lyell among nineteenth…century men of science。
for a century after dalton made his proposal； it remained entirely hypothetical； and a feweminent scientists—notably the viennese physicist ernst mach； for whom is named the speedof sound—doubted the existence of atoms at all。 “atoms cannot be perceived by the senses 。 。
。 they are things of thought；” he wrote。 the existence of atoms was so doubtfully held in thegerman…speaking world in particular that it was said to have played a part in the suicide of thegreat theoretical physicist； and atomic enthusiast； ludwig boltzmann in 1906。
it was einstein who provided the first incontrovertible evidence of atoms’ existence withhis paper on brownian motion in 1905； but this attracted little attention and in any caseeinstein was soon to bee consumed with his work on general relativity。 so the first realhero of the atomic age； if not the first personage on the scene； was ernest rutherford。
rutherford was born in 1871 in the “back blocks” of new zealand to parents who hademigrated from scotland to raise a little flax and a lot of children （to paraphrase stevenweinberg）。 growing up in a remote part of a remote country； he was about as far from themainstream of science as it was possible to be； but in 1895 he won a scholarship that took himto the cavendish laboratory at cambridge university； which was about to bee the hottestplace in the world to do physics。
physicists are notoriously scornful of scientists from other fields。 when the wife of thegreat austrian physicist wolfgang pauli left him for a chemist； he was staggered withdisbelief。 “had she taken a bullfighter i would have understood；” he remarked in wonder to afriend。 “but a chemist 。 。 。”
it was a feeling rutherford would have understood。 “all science is either physics or stampcollecting；” he once said； in a line that has been used many times since。 there is a certainengaging irony therefore that when he won the nobel prize in 1908； it was in chemistry； notphysics。
rutherford was a lucky man—lucky to be a genius； but even luckier to live at a time whenphysics and chemistry were so exciting and so patible （his own sentimentsnotwithstanding）。 never again would they quite so fortably overlap。
for all his success； rutherford was not an especially brilliant man and was actually prettyterrible at mathematics。 often during lectures he would get so lost in his own equations thathe would give up halfway through and tell the students to work it out for themselves。
according to his longtime colleague james chadwick； discoverer of the neutron； he wasn’teven particularly clever at experimentation。 he was simply tenacious and open…minded。 forbrilliance he substituted shrewdness and a kind of daring。 his mind； in the words of onebiographer； was “always operating out towards the frontiers； as far as he could see； and thatwas a great deal further than most other men。” confronted with an intractable problem； hewas prepared to work at it harder and longer than most people and to be more receptive tounorthodox explanations。 his greatest breakthrough came because he was prepared to spendimmensely tedious hours sitting at a screen counting alpha particle scintillations； as they wereknown—the sort of work that would normally have been farmed out。 he was one of the firstto see—possibly the very first—that the power inherent in the atom could； if harnessed； makebombs powerful enough to “make this old world vanish in smoke。”
physically he was big and booming； with a voice that made the timid shrink。 once whentold that rutherford was about to make a radio broadcast across the atlantic； a colleague drilyasked： “why use radio？” he also had a huge amount of good…natured confidence。 whensomeone remarked to him that he seemed always to be at the crest of a wave； he responded；“well； after all； i made the wave； didn’t i？” c。 p。 snow recalled how once in a cambridgetailor’s he overheard rutherford remark： “every day i grow in girth。 and in mentality。”
but both girth and fame were far ahead of him in 1895 when he fetched up at thecavendish。
1it was a singularly eventful period in science。 in the year of his arrival incambridge； wilhelm roentgen discovered x rays at the university of würzburg in germany；and the next year henri becquerel discovered radioactivity。 and the cavendish itself wasabout to embark on a long period of greatness。 in 1897； j。 j。 thomson and colleagues woulddiscover the electron there； in 1911 c。 t。 r。 wilson would produce the first particle detectorthere （as we shall see）； and in 1932 james chadwick would discover the neutron there。
further still in the future； james watson and francis crick would discover the structure ofdna at the cavendish in 1953。
in the beginning rutherford worked on radio waves； and with some distinction—hemanaged to transmit a crisp signal more than a mile； a very reasonable achievement for thetime—but gave it up when he was persuaded by a senior colleague that radio had little future。
on the whole； however； rutherford didn’t thrive at the cavendish。 after three years there；feeling he was going nowhere； he took a post at mcgill university in montreal； and there hebegan his long and steady rise to greatness。 by the time he received his nobel prize （for“investigations into the disintegration of the elements； and the chemistry of radioactivesubstances；” according to the official citation） he had moved on to manchester university；and it was there； in fact； that he would do his most important work in determining thestructure and nature of the atom。
1the name es from the same cavendishes who producec henry。 this one was william cavendish； seventhduke of devonshire； who was a gifted mathematician and steel baron in victoriar england。 in 1870； he gave theuniversity ￡6；300 to build an experimental lab。
by the early twentieth century it was known that atoms were made of parts—thomson’sdiscovery of the electron had established that—but it wasn’t known how many parts therewere or how they fit together or what shape they took。 some physicists thought that atomsmight be cube shaped； because cubes can be packed together so neatly without any wastedspace。 the more general view； however； was that an atom was more like a currant bun or aplum pudding： a dense； solid object that c