Ernest Rutherford and the Discovery of the Nuclear Atom

This year we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Ernest Rutherford's analysis of alpha-particle scattering to reveal the presence of the dense, compact nucleus of the atom. This talk will trace out the history of Rutherford's work and the experiments that led him toward his revolutionary proposal. Rutherford was a highly successful mentor of his students and research assistants, 10 of whom earned Nobel Prizes in physics or chemistry. I will summarize the impact of some of these researchers on the early history of nuclear physics.