Ernest Marsden

Sir Ernest Marsden ( born February 19, 1889 in Rishton, northwest of Manchester, † December 15, 1970 in Wellington ) was an English physicist. He lived much of his life in New Zealand.

Life and work

Born in the English county of Lancashire, Ernest Marsden came as a student in contact with the experimental physicists Ernest Rutherford and Hans Geiger, with whom he worked at the University of Manchester in exploring the structure of the atom. This research led by measuring the Rutherford scattering, which refuted the Thomson model of the atom, the concept of the atomic nucleus and to the creation of nuclear physics.

Rutherford suggested in 1914 Marsden as a physics professor at what is now known as the University of Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. In 1915 he moved there. After he fought during the First World War in France and was awarded the Military Cross, he conducted research in many areas ranging from cosmic rays to fossil fuels. It was 1922, " Assistant Director of Education " in the New Zealand Ministry of Education ( Department of Education ) and founded in 1926 the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research ( the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research). In the first 20 years as head of the DSIR he began the main source of revenue, agriculture, to provide a scientific basis.

He spent the Second World War with the development of new radar technology. In 1947 he was elected President of the Royal Society of New Zealand. But four months later he moved to London as a liaison officer of the science of New Zealand (New Zealand 's science liaison officer ).

He served throughout his life in many committees and retained his interest in the study of radiation. Marsden returned back to New Zealand in 1954 and in 1958 was knighted.

According to him, the Marsden Fund ( a fund scientific ) was named.

  • Physicist ( 20th century)
  • Knight
  • Member of the Royal Society
  • Briton
  • Born in 1889
  • Died in 1970
  • Man
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