Ernest Rutherford and the Birth of Modern Physics

(Paperback)

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Ernest Rutherford and the Birth of Modern Physics traces key concepts in modern physicsfrom their origins in the work of the man whom Einstein labelled a second Newton taking Rutherfords life as a roadmap to explain the complex world of nuclear andquantum physics in simple terms.

By the mid-nineteenth century, physicists believed they had discovered the last secrets of the universe. Then a new world opened up: one of waves, particles and new fundamental forces. This mysterious world swiftly captured public imagination, not least because of thetechnical revolution that emerged from it, giving the world everything from radio to TV, X-ray machines, smoke detectors and more.

One of the key movers of this new world was Ernest Rutherford, a no-nonsense NewZealander who became as popularly known as the father of the atom in recognition of hispioneering role in particle physics.

But he was far more than that. Through his roles at Manchester University and then theCavendish Laboratory, steering a new generation of physicists such as Niels Bohr,Rutherford helped shape much of the way we understand physics today, from quantummechanics to the standard model of particles. This book explores the discovery of thatscience, using Rutherfords life as a vehicle to steer the journey. It explains just why thisscience seized the public imagination of the day, and why Rutherfords contribution wasintegral not just to the technical revolution of the twentieth century, but to the way weunderstand the nature of the universe today. And it explains how that science works.

Author Bio

Matthew Wright is the author of over 60 books on topics ranging from history to scienceand engineering, for all ages. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. His booksinclude Living On Shaky Ground, explaining the science behind earthquakes; the BatemanIllustrated History of New Zealand; Freyberg, a Life's Journey, the biography of Bernard Freyberd; and the popular introductory bookThe New Zealand Wars.Matthew lives in Wellington, New Zealand (seematthewwright.net).