Quotes by Ernest Rutherford

“Now I know what the atom looks like.”

“If, as I have reason to believe, I have disintegrated the nucleus of the atom, this is of greater significance than th”

“It was quite the most incredible event that has ever happened to me in my life. It was almost as incredible as if you fired a 15-inch shell at a piece of tissue paper and it came back and hi”

“If your experiment needs a statistician, you need a better experiment.”

“I think a strong claim can be made that the process of scientific discovery may be regarded as a form of art. This is best seen in the theoretical aspects of Physical Science. The mathematical theo...”

“The great object is to find the theory of the matter [of X-rays] before anyone else, for nearly every professor in Europe is now on the warpath.”

“All science is either physics or stamp collecting.”

“You should never bet against anything in science at odds of more than about 1012 to 1.”

“Of all created comforts, God is the lender; you are the borrower, not the owner.”

“Radioactivity is shown to be accompanied by chemical changes in which new types of matter are being continually produced. … The conclusion is drawn that these chemical changes must be sub-atomic in...”

“We may in these processes obtain very great quantities of energy, but on the average we cannot hope to obtain energy for practical use in this way. The bombardment of the atom is a very poor and in...”

“It is just as surprising as if a gunner fired a shell at a single sheet of paper and for some reason or other the projectile bounded back again.”

“It was almost as incredible as if you fired a 15-inch shell at a piece of tissue paper and it came back and hit you.”

“It is not in the nature of things for any one man to make a sudden violent discovery; science goes step by step, and every man depends on the work of his predecessors. When you hear of a sudden une...”

“That which is not measurable is not science. — also attributed to Lord Kelvin”

“Don't let me catch anyone talking about the Universe in my department.”

“An alleged scientific discovery has no merit unless it can be explained to a barmaid.”

“I know what the atom looks like!”

“When we have found how the nucleus of atoms is built up we shall have found the greatest secret of all — except life. We shall have found the basis of everything — of the earth we walk on, of the a...”

“I came into the room which was half-dark and presently spotted Lord Kelvin in the audience, and realised that I was in for trouble at the last part of my speech dealing with the age of the Earth, w...”