One of the greatest scientists of
the 20th ce ntury, Ernest Rutherford was the Father of modern
atomic physics and precursor of the nuclear age. Physics was said to have been ‘done
for’ by the end of 19th century when the boy from a remote village of New
Zealand – later, an experimenter and inventor who discovered the new branch of
nuclear physics. Defining universe as an ‘atom’, he laid the foundations, which
led physics to a ‘space’ – in the form of cosmic radiation.
This genius who first penetrated the heart of atom helped the younger
men to penetrate the heart of stars. What is the universe made up of ? One would answer -
Rocks, sand, hillocks, rivers, sea etc., until one man, Ernest Rutherford, who broke
through the gross world of matter into the subtle world of atoms.
Ernest Rutherford, the Nobel Prize winner "tunneled in to the very
material of God" – the atom to make the planet a better place to live in.
Unfortunate was the planet earth whose mankind transferred immense
energy of atom to create the atom bomb.
The erring nations round to mutual war
And faithless faith, such as Jove kept with thee… |
