The Disappearing Spoon

The Disappearing Spoon

by

Sam Kean

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Disappearing Spoon makes teaching easy.

Ernest Rutherford Character Analysis

A New Zealander/British scientist at the University of Manchester whose many contributions to scientific knowledge included identifying that atoms had a compact, positively-charged nucleus. Rutherford was also one of the founders of the field of bubble science. He supervised a large number of students who went on to make enormous contributions to the field.
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Ernest Rutherford Character Timeline in The Disappearing Spoon

The timeline below shows where the character Ernest Rutherford appears in The Disappearing Spoon. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 6: Completing the Table…with a Bang
Experimentation, Accidents, and Discovery Theme Icon
Nature vs. Culture Theme Icon
Science for Good vs. for Evil Theme Icon
The Expansion and Limits of Human Knowledge Theme Icon
At only 25 years old, Moseley took up his lab director, Ernest Rutherford’s, idea that each atom had a compact, positively charged nucleus, something that at the time... (full context)
Storytelling and Science Theme Icon
Experimentation, Accidents, and Discovery Theme Icon
Nature vs. Culture Theme Icon
Science for Good vs. for Evil Theme Icon
The Expansion and Limits of Human Knowledge Theme Icon
...atoms decay or “fall apart.” A major breakthrough came in 1932, when a student of Rutherford’s named James Chadwick discovered neutral neurons (which have neither positive nor negative charge). (full context)
Chapter 12: Political Elements
Experimentation, Accidents, and Discovery Theme Icon
Nature vs. Culture Theme Icon
The Expansion and Limits of Human Knowledge Theme Icon
...1910, a Hungarian aristocrat named György Hevesy began studying radioactivity in Manchester, England, under Ernest Rutherford. Frustrated with his inability to separate radium-D, Hevesy changed tactics and decided to inject a... (full context)
Chapter 17: Spheres of Splendor: The Science of Bubbles
Experimentation, Accidents, and Discovery Theme Icon
Nature vs. Culture Theme Icon
The Expansion and Limits of Human Knowledge Theme Icon
...couple of prominent scientists, bubble science didn’t really become a “respectable field” until 1900. Ernest Rutherford and Lord Kelvin were the men who finally got the rest of the scientific community... (full context)
Experimentation, Accidents, and Discovery Theme Icon
The Expansion and Limits of Human Knowledge Theme Icon
Rutherford announced this new discovery while accepting his 1908 Nobel Prize. He knew that the alpha-helium... (full context)
Storytelling and Science Theme Icon
Experimentation, Accidents, and Discovery Theme Icon
Nature vs. Culture Theme Icon
The Expansion and Limits of Human Knowledge Theme Icon
By the time Rutherford found his number, Lord Kelvin was 80 and his mind was no longer sharp. Still,... (full context)
Experimentation, Accidents, and Discovery Theme Icon
Nature vs. Culture Theme Icon
Science for Good vs. for Evil Theme Icon
The Expansion and Limits of Human Knowledge Theme Icon
Rutherford started a scientific trend of digging from element bubbles inside rocks; it soon became a... (full context)