Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
1897 the atom finally lost its status as a fundamental particle
that could not be subdivided. At first Thomson thought that the
atom consisted entirely of electrons, but now we know that it
also has a nucleus and that the electrons orbit in a field around
the nucleus. However, it is hardly surprising that at first the
nucleus was overlooked because its size, when compared with
the surrounding field of electrons, is as small as a bullet in a
battlefield!
The next discovery was made by Ernest Rutherford who, hav-
ing also studied radioactivity at the Cavendish in Cambridge,
was then appointed Professor of Physics at McGill University in
Montreal, Canada, at the remarkably young age of twenty-seven.
In 1902, working there with his assistant Frederick Soddy, they
astounded the scientific community with the announcement
that one element could change into another. Incredibly, it
appeared that in the process of emitting 'mysterious rays', com-
pletely new types of matter were created, the chemical and phys-
ical properties of which were quite distinct from the parent
atom: radium became radon - a metal became a gas! The ancient
alchemist's dream of turning one element into another was hap-
pening before their very eyes - the only difference being that it
was happening quite spontaneously without any help from Man.
Wild miracle indeed!
Suddenly radioactivity was all the rage and the 'decay' theory
of the break-up of atoms was a topic of supreme interest not
just to scientists, but to the world at large. Journalists besieged
Rutherford's laboratory and wrote fabulous and fantastic
stories. Even the more staid headlines of
The New York Times
proclaimed '
Alchemist's goal reached by Briton
' (actually Rutherford
was from New Zealand) and discussed the '
Romance of Radium
'.
Doctors wrote letters to Rutherford about 'a trial of the inhala-
tion of radium gas as a cure for tuberculosis', and 'the interest-
ing effects produced when radium is brought near the eye. In a
darkened room a rested eye, even with the lid closed, receives a
sensation of light, no doubt due to the radiation going through
