In the movies we often see a scientist portrayed as a quiet and pious man or woman dressed in a white lab coat engrossed in deep thought. This image surely fits some; however, not the twentieth-century New Zealander Ernest Rutherford, or Lord Rutherford as he would be known later in life. He was born into a large family living in the frontier country of New Zealand with the nearest town thirteen miles away by horseback. This young man would earn a scholarship and travel to Great Britain to study at the world-famous Cambridge University. There this boisterous country boy would come into his own in the hallowed halls of Cambridge and study under one of Europe's most prominent scientists, J.J. Thomson. Over his long and fruitful career as a physicist, he would create the science we call today nuclear physics, thus shattering the concept of the atom that had held sway since the time of the ancient Greek philosophers. In his time, Rutherford was considered the greatest experimental physicist in the British Empire. No other experimentalist had been such a pivotal figure in science since Michael Faraday, the discoverer of electromagnetic induction."Ernest Rutherford: A Short Biography" reveals the life and times of one of the greatest scientific minds of the twentieth-century 30-Minute Book Series This is the 34th book in the 30-Minute Book Series. Books in this series are fast-paced, accurate, and cover the story in as much detail as a short book possibly can. Most people complete each book in less than an hour, which makes the books in the series a perfect companion for your lunch hour or a little down time. About the Author Doug West is a retired engineer and an experienced non-fiction writer with several books to his credit. His writing interests are general, with special expertise in history, science, biographies, and "How To" topics. Doug has a Ph.D. in General Engineering from Oklahoma State University.

In this new intellectual biography of Ernest Rutherford, the 20th centurys greatest experimental physicist, Reeves portrays a ruddy, genial man who was also a towering figure in scientific history.

Here is a lively history of modern physics, as seen through the lives of thirty men and women from the pantheon of physics. William H. Cropper vividly portrays the life and accomplishments of such giants as Galileo and Isaac Newton, Marie Curie and Ernest Rutherford, Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, right up to contemporary figures such as Richard Feynman, Murray Gell-Mann, and Stephen Hawking. We meet scientists--all geniuses--who could be gregarious, aloof, unpretentious, friendly, dogged, imperious, generous to colleagues or contentious rivals. As Cropper captures their personalities, he also offers vivid portraits of their great moments of discovery, their bitter feuds, their relations with family and friends, their religious beliefs and education. In addition, Cropper has grouped these biographies by discipline--mechanics, thermodynamics, particle physics, and others--each section beginning with a historical overview. Thus in the section on quantum mechanics, readers can see how the work of Max Planck influenced Niels Bohr, and how Bohr in turn influenced Werner Heisenberg. Our understanding of the physical world has increased dramatically in the last four centuries. With Great Physicists, readers can retrace the footsteps of the men and women who led the way.

This is the first biography of Sir James Chadwick (1891-1974), the discoverer of the neutron and Nobel Laureate. His central role in the unfolding drama of nuclear physics is reflected in his publications and correspondence with other leading figures like Bohr and Rutherford. Chadwick'sresearches in radioactivity began as an 18-year old student, and culminated within four years with the observation of the continuous beta-spectrum - a finding which caused long and furious debate, In the 1920s, Chadwick rose to be the operations director of the Cavendish Laboratory underRutherford's leadership. The discovery of the neutron came from an intense burst of work in 1932, after a decade of disappointment. While he changed the course in science, Chadwick's life was moulded by great events. In 1914 he was studying with Geiger in Berlin and spent the next four years in a remarkable internment camp. In the Second World War, he became Britain's foremost authority on the atomic bomb, and her chiefscientist on the Manhattan Project. His voluminous correspondence gives a unique feeling of the tensions of those years, both for scientists and politicians. Chadwick's profound influence on atomic policy continued after the war, his career ended with the controversial mastership of a Cambridgecollege. This biography draws on Chadwick's extensive correspondence with many of the leading scientists of his day, and offers a fascinating insight into the life and work of the man who discovered the neutron.

Originally published in 1937, this book discusses the contributions that the study of radiation can make to the problem of elemental transmutation.

Michael Faraday (1791-1867), the son of a blacksmith, described his education as "little more than the rudiments of reading, writing, and arithmetic at a common day-school." Yet from such basics, he became one of the most prolific and wide-ranging experimental scientists who ever lived. As a bookbinder's apprentice with a voracious appetite for learning, he read every book he got his hands on. In 1812 he attended a series of chemistry lectures by Sir Humphry Davy at London's prestigious Royal Institution. He took copious and careful notes, and, in the hopes of landing a scientific job, bound them and sent them to the lecturer. Davy was impressed enough to hire the 21-year-old as a laboratory assistant.In his first decade at the Institution, Faraday discovered benzene, isobutylene, and two chlorides of carbon. But despite these and other accomplishments in chemistry, he is chiefly remembered for his work in physics. In 1831 he proved that magnetism could generate an electric current, thereby establishing the field of electromagnetism and leading to the invention of the dynamo. In addition to his extraordinary scientific activities, Faraday was a leader in his church, whose faith and wish to serve guided him throughout his career. An engaging public speaker, he gave popular lectures on scientific subjects, and helped found a tradition of scientific education for children and laypeople that continues to this day.Oxford Portraits in Science is an ongoing series of scientific biographies for young adults. Written by top scholars and writers, each biography examines the personality of its subject as well as the thought process leading to his or her discoveries. These illustrated biographies combine accessible technical information with compelling personal stories to portray the scientists whose work has shaped our understanding of the natural world.