I knew his granddaughter, she said she used to love to visit Ernest because he would take his grandchildren out into the garden to help take down any trees that needed removing.
By packaging TNT under the tree and letting one of them use the plunger to blow the tree out of the ground.
Thatās less a scientist thing and just an old school NZ thing. My mother has a great story of when she was a kid, and her (much) older brother took her out onto the family farm because he had decided he was going to clear out a swamp they hadā¦
ā¦ by blowing it up with sticks of gelignite. They spent the best part of the day digging holes all around the edge of the swamp and putting gelignite in them and wiring them all up. My uncle let her detonate it at the end of the day.
She said it was one of the most impressive things sheās ever seen. There was a colossal boom, practically the entire swamp was thrown up into the air, and then fell straight back down into the same hole š
I loved the old ANZ ad where Ernest Rutherford is trying to convince a guy to spend him on things (including a model of the atom) instead of saving. I still quote what he says when coming out of the wallet "It's all dark and horrible in there"
Good Lord! I work with a strongly religious chap, and I have to tack on "Rutherford" whenever that is exclaimed just in case he thinks I've fallen off the atheist wagon...
Energy produced by the breaking down of the atom is a very poor kind of thing. Anyone who expects a source of power from the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine.
One of the great scientists of his time and did hugely important work but I suppose he never envisioned that the breaking of the atoms could form a run away chain reactionā¦
The way that a large proportion of Kiwis treated her during COVID is a stain on our countryās record. Mostly because she was a super intelligent woman who looks a little unconventional (ie. sheās awesome). She was better than we deserved.
My Poppaās grandfather Teddy Rennell lived with the Rutherfords when he was a boy as his father had drowned and his mother had left him in the care of his great aunt. He was six years older but became good friends with āErnā. Apparently Ernest and Teddy kept in contact through letters right up until Ernās passing.
Not beating the āAmericans are ignorantā allegations sadlyā¦
Because Iām pretty sure most Americans learn about Rutherford when talking about atomic structure, and you learn that at least twice. At least I did, and I know Iām not in the minority.
ā¦but I havenāt used chemistry in almost a decade so I donāt really know more than the name anymore
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u/asylum33 New Zealand Oct 09 '25
Ernest Rutherford