Lord Rutherford's legacy

Nelson's greatest son credited his talent for invention to growing up in the backblocks of Brightwater:he went on to split atom and win the Nobel Prize for chemistry | By Chris short | Photography supplied by the Cawthron Institute


Ernest Rutherford’s achievements were great, his influence far reaching and, for this region (the place of his birth), he left a legacy as a scientific genius and pioneer of which to be incredibly proud. What I’m wondering though is how much people really know about him, what he did and what that means for science today?

2008 is the 100th anniversary of Rutherford receiving his Nobel Prize, and it’s worth reflecting on his significant achievements.

Many people know of Rutherford’s fame as a scientist for splitting the atom, but this was not the reason for his Nobel Prize. Nor was it the only area of scientific discovery in which he attracted worldwide fame. The breadth and depth of his influence is probably not well understood, and the world owes more than it thinks to the lad from Nelson.

Ernest Rutherford was born at Spring Grove, Nelson, on 30 August 1871 – the second son and fourth child of 12 born to James and Martha Rutherford. James Rutherford had arrived in New Zealand in 1843 as a four year old, and became a wheelwright and engineer, and later a flax miller. As a boy, Ernest was surrounded by hardworking people with well-developed technical skills.

According to Dr John Campbell, a scientist at the University of Canterbury and expert on Rutherford, he had a typical New Zealand childhood – growing up in a rural area. His family shifted quite a bit when he was growing up, moving to Foxhill, Havelock and then to Taranaki in 1888.

Rutherford was fascinated with science from an early age, and one of his first experiments was estimating the proximity of lightning flashes. He attended school in Havelock and, after applying twice, was awarded a scholarship to study at Nelson College in 1887.

In 1889, Ernest became dux of the school and, in an almost fateful experience, on his second attempt was awarded a scholarship to attend the University of New Zealand.

He spent four years at the Canterbury College and obtained a BA in pure mathematics and Latin, applied mathematics, English, French and physics. He later completed an MA with first-class honours in mathematics and mathematical physics, as well as in physical science. Then in 1894, he also completed a BSc in geology and chemistry… a stunning set of credentials, to say the least.

Soon after, he was awarded another scholarship – this time from the British Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. This meant that Ernest could go anywhere in the world and work on research of importance to New Zealand. Only one of these scholarships was available to a New Zealander, and only every second year.

In 1895, at just 23 years of age and the holder of three degrees from the University of New Zealand, Rutherford left to work with Professor JJ Thomson of Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory.

Even at this young age, his reputation was widespread and he was seen as a true innovator of electrical technology. He built on his previous research into the detection of electromagnetic waves to create technology that helped ships detect lighthouses several hundred metres away.

His research ability was gaining fame, and Thomson asked Rutherford to further help him with his work. Rutherford went on to develop techniques to study the electrical conductivity of gases, and when X-rays were discovered (around this time) he used them to initiate such conduction. He repeated this with rays from radioactive atoms after they were discovered in 1896.

At this point, Rutherford found his true calling and began studying radioactivity itself – discovering alpha and beta rays. Rutherford then moved on to Montreal’s McGill University in 1898 after he was unable to obtain a fellowship at Cambridge.

While at McGill University, Rutherford unravelled further mysteries of radioactivity, showing that some heavy atoms spontaneously decay into slightly lighter atoms. This work brought him to the world’s attention for the first time. As a result, he developed techniques for dating minerals that allowed scientists to estimate the age of the earth. This radioactive-dating technique is still fundamental to modern geology today.

Rutherford next went to Manchester at the bequest of Professor Schuster who had inherited a large fortune and wanted Rutherford to become chair of physics. In a breakthrough of incredible proportions, he deduced that almost all the mass of an atom is contained in its nucleus.

To put this into perspective, if all the orbiting electrons in our bodies were compressed down into the nuclei of our atoms, we would occupy the same space as a grain of sand. You can imagine that this garnered him further worldwide fame. It was from this discovery that the nuclear model of the atom we all learnt in school was developed.

Most people associate Rutherford’s Nobel Prize with the splitting of the atom. However, he won the coveted prize for his achievement in chemistry as a result of his investigations into the disintegration of elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances. At the time, Rutherford wondered how a physicist could become such a famous chemist overnight!

He was knighted in 1914 before joining the war effort and putting his scientific prowess to work on submarine-detection technology. Towards the end of the war, Rutherford observed, during an experiment bombarding nitrogen atoms with alpha rays, that the energy coming out was different and in larger amounts than the protons of energy going in.

Based on this, he correctly deduced that this had converted the nitrogen atoms into oxygen atoms. He thus became the first person to split the atom – his third great discovery and the one for which the world most readily remembers him.

In 1919, he became the Director of Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory. For more than a decade, Rutherford worked to establish a fantastic research team and gave lectures and talks on the atom and its structure. This included visits to New Zealand, where he was received with great admiration. In 1931, he received the title of Ernest, Lord Rutherford of Nelson.

His face features on our $100 bill, there are numerous memorials and buildings named after him and he features in our history as a prominent and influential figure. But what did his discoveries really mean?

The use of his knowledge, at least in part, has created technology to arm the world with nuclear weapons and to create nuclear power. Rutherford surmised, quite rightly, that the power of the atom was infinitely higher than the energy bonding it together.

Prior to World War I, he commented that he didn’t think the power of the atom could be efficiently extracted, but hoped that ways of achieving this would not be found before man was living at peace with his neighbour!

Of course, the dangers of radioactive material were not fully understood by the pioneers of the field. Another renowned scientist, Marie Curie, died from leukaemia in 1934 and her notebooks are still too dangerous to handle.

Recent publicity about the work of Rutherford includes a report last month that radiation from his experiments between 1909 and 1917 in room 2.62 of the red-brick Victorian building at Manchester University (which now bears his name) might have been a contributor to the deaths of some of the university’s staff.

The building was never tested for radiation, and in 1972 was handed over to the university’s psychology department. Precautionary decontamination of the building was ordered in 1999, but the university says there is no causal link between the deaths and radiation.

In 1932, under Rutherford’s guidance, John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton finally figured out how to split the atom by artificial means using protons – the nuclei of hydrogen atoms – that had been accelerated to very high speeds in a high-voltage accelerator. The rest, as they say, is history. Rutherford’s prophetic words about being at peace with neighbours were to be forgotten as World War II drew to a close.

The world, however, owes a great deal to Ernest Rutherford and his discoveries. Today, the science of physics has progressed to new heights. In France and Switzerland, scientists at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) are in the process of creating an experiment using a piece of equipment called a Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to unlock some of the last mysteries of particle physics – the existence of a things such as dark matter, dark energy and something called Higgs Boson.

It’s about this point that my eyes begin to glaze over. Suffice to say, the LHC is an underground tunnel, circular in nature, with a circumference of about 27km. The basic idea is to send beams of protons in opposite directions to each other, have them collide at almost the speed of light and see what happens. Scientists are hoping to observe things that verify their standard model of particle physics. If they don’t, they might have to start with a new piece of paper.

The results of these experiments could explain some of the last remaining mysteries of our universe. On the other hand, they could create a whole series of new questions. You can bet your last $100 note that Ernest Rutherford would have thrived on the challenge of an increased understanding of the universe through physics. And he’d be in the thick of it right now were he still around, giving us here in Nelson even more of which to be proud.

For further information on the life and achievements of Ernest Rutherford, the website maintained by Dr John Campbell (www.rutherford.org.nz) is an outstanding archive and record.

Science Thriving in Nelson

Ernest Rutherford’s scientific legacy is alive and kicking at Nelson’s Cawthron Institute

The institute is easily ignored as it studiously goes about its business on the corner of Halifax and Milton Street. Yet its work, both nationally and internationally, has seen it become a renowned leader in aquaculture research.

Gillian Wratt, CEO of the Cawthron Institute, says few people understand the scope and depth of the scientific work being carried out there. The institute quietly goes about its work at the leading edge of its field, alongside many organisations in the public and private sector. It also contributes directly to government activity and policy development in areas such as the recently-enacted Emissions Trading Scheme.

Cawthron is one of New Zealand’s only privately funded and operated scientific organisations. With about 180 staff, it’s relatively small compared to other significant contributors to the New Zealand scientific community (such as the various Crown Research Institutes). But being small has been no barrier to success, and the specialised work that Cawthron undertakes is in high demand.

The Cawthron Trust was established in 1919 by a bequest from Thomas Cawthron, the board of which owns the institute on behalf of the people of the Top of The South.

Cawthron left the residue of his estate, valued at £240,000 at the time, for the establishment of an “industrial, technical school institute and museum,” to be named the Cawthron Institute.

The suggestion for a technical institute came from J H Cock, the wealthy Nelson shipping agent. His advice suggested that the establishment of an institute would be very important for the development of industry in both Nelson and wider New Zealand. Apparently, Cawthron liked his suggestion…

The original trustees appointed under Cawthron’s will were in a quandary concerning his exact wishes after he died, so they sought the advice of an advisory committee of scientists.

After due consideration and consultation with the Cawthron trustees, the advisory committee recommended that the principal objective of the proposed Cawthron Institute should be to conduct scientific research into problems facing the primary industries of New Zealand, particularly those of the Nelson district. In due course, the committee’s proposal for scientific research in this field was approved by the Supreme Court.

Today, the Cawthron Institute provides research solutions to enable the sustainable management and development of New Zealand’s coastal and freshwater systems and resources. Its funding comes from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, as well as a range of commercial clients to which it provides consulting and analytical services.

The Cawthron Trust’s board also administers a bequest programme that receives donations from philanthropic individuals and invests these funds in accordance with the principles of The Thomas Cawthron Charitable Trust – to promote and develop scientific excellence and the ideals of Thomas Cawthron.

The institute conducts work in a range of fields, including sustainable business (and research and development) in aquaculture. Its particular strength is the research of shellfish, including mussels, oysters and paua. It maintains an aquaculture park at The Glen, just north of Nelson, that enables it to produce spat for supply to commercial shellfish farmers. In the future, with expanded capacity, the park will be available for a range of other research and commercial hatcheries, nurseries and finishing facilities.

The Cawthron Institute’s strength is its ability to offer independent, reputable and unbiased advice to scientific research in New Zealand and abroad. Recently, this has seen them involved in research into the effects of outflows from the Manapouri dam for Meridian Energy, as well as numerous Resource Management Act issues concerning aquaculture. It is also involved, through its sustainable business division, in reviewing carbon-offsetting programmes, sustainable planning and environmental impact assessments.

For more than 80 years, the Cawthron Institute has been an integral part of the Nelson community. Thanks to the foresight of individuals like Thomas Cawthron, and the inspiration shown by scientists like Sir Ernest Rutherford, the future looks bright for science in this region. With a history of excellence and commitment to scientific advancement, the people of Nelson have much to be proud of now and, no doubt, in the future to come.