Science · Politics · 1871–1937
Born: 30 August 1871 · Died: 19 October 1937 · Age: 66
New Zealand-born physicist who discovered the atomic nucleus, split the atom and won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Did you know?He is the only Nobel laureate from New Zealand to be featured on their one hundred dollar banknote.
Rutherford is often called the father of nuclear physics. In a famous experiment, he and his team fired tiny particles at thin gold foil and were astonished when some bounced straight back. He realised that atoms must have a tiny, dense centre, the nucleus, surrounded by mostly empty space. He later became the first person to deliberately split an atom, turning one element into another. Raised on a farm in New Zealand, he went on to lead the famous Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, mentoring many future Nobel Prize winners.
Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937), was a New Zealand physicist and chemist who was a pioneering researcher in both atomic and nuclear physics. He has been described as "the father of nuclear physics" and "the greatest experimentalist since Michael Faraday".
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Profile
New Zealand physicist, born 1871
Ernest Rutherford was born in Spring Grove on 30 August 1871.
He discovered the atomic nucleus in 1911.
He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908.
He led the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge.
Career highlights
Did you know?He appears on New Zealand's $100 note.
Questions people ask
b. 1954Photo: Пресс-служба Раиса Республики Татарстан · CC BY 4.0
b. 1930Photo: Mark Hirschey · CC BY-SA 2.0
1797–1851Photo: Richard Rothwell · Public domain
b. 1972Photo: Kevin Paul · CC BY 4.0
1852–1911Photo: Unknown author · Public domain
1958–2006Photo: Blaues Sofa · CC BY 2.0
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1958–2009Photo: Matthew Rolston; Distributed by Epic Records · Public domain
1828–1910Photo: Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii · Public domain
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1254–1324Photo: Salviati · Public domain
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Last reviewed: October 2026