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Ernest Rutherford
1871–1937 · New Zealand, United Kingdom · Born in the 1800s
Nobel Chemistry 1908
Discovered the atomic nucleus, identified alpha and beta radiation and achieved the first artificial nuclear transmutation.
Nobel-winning work
Nobel 1908 “for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances.” With Frederick Soddy he showed that radioactivity is a spontaneous transmutation of one element into another, quantified by half-lives, and identified alpha rays as helium nuclei. This work founded nuclear chemistry; the atomic nucleus and the first artificial transmutation of into came afterwards.