How key concepts in modern physics came from the work of a New Zealander whom Einstein labelled
'a second Newton'. 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 the public imagination not least
because of the technical 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 New Zealander who became popularly known as the
'father of the atom' in recognition of his pioneering role in particle physics. But he was far
more than that. Through his roles at Manchester University and then the Cavendish Laboratory in
England he steered a new generation of highly influential physicists such as Niels Bohr
helping to shape much of the way we understand physics today. This book explores the
discovery of that science using Rutherford's life as a vehicle to steer the journey. It
explains just why this science seized the public imagination of the day and why Rutherford's
contribution was integral not just to the technical revolution of the twentieth century but to
the way we now understand the nature of the universe. And it explains how that science works
in terms clear to the widest readership.
