Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 3
. Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937). Oswald Birley's 1932 portrait.
Source
: Royal So-
ciety, courtesy AIP Emilio Segre Visual Archives.
A Prophetic Utterance
If one moment can symbolize the transition from Victorian to twentieth-century
science, when geology began to cast off the fetters of unfounded assumptions,
uncritical deference to authority, and inability to measure and quantify, the 1904
meeting of the Royal Society of London makes a good candidate. Slated to give
the prestigious Baker ian lecture was Ernest Rutherford. His predecessors in the
