Ernest Rutherford (1871–1937) was a pioneering physicist known as the “father of nuclear physics.” His 1909 gold foil experiment revealed the atomic nucleus, reshaping understanding of atomic structure. He proposed the “planetary model” with electrons orbiting a dense nucleus. Rutherford’s work laid foundations for nuclear physics and radioactivity studies, earning him the 1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He mentored future Nobel laureates like Niels Bohr and held esteemed academic positions. Rutherford’s discoveries revolutionized atomic theory, paving the way for nuclear energy and technology.

Ernest Rutherford Quotes

1. “All science is either physics or stamp collecting.”
— Ernest Rutherford

2. “Physics is the only real science. The rest are just stamp collecting.”
— Ernest Rutherford

3. “All of physics is either impossible or trivial. It is impossible until you understand it, and then it becomes trivial.”
— Ernest Rutherford

4. “Gentlemen, we have run out of money. It is time to start thinking.”
— Ernest Rutherford

5. “The more physics you have the less engineering you need.”
— Ernest Rutherford

6. “If your experiment needs statistics, you ought to have done a better experiment.”
— Ernest Rutherford

7. “A theory that you can’t explain to a bartender is probably no damn good.”
— Ernest Rutherford

8. “We haven’t got the money, so we’ve got to think.”
— Ernest Rutherford

9. “The only possible conclusion the social sciences can draw is: some do, some don’t.”
— Ernest Rutherford

10. “Never say, “I tried it once and it did not work.””
— Ernest Rutherford

11. “Now I know what the atom looks like.”
— Ernest Rutherford

12. “If you don’t do the best with what you have, You could never have done better with what you could have had !”
— Ernest Rutherford

13. “That which is not measurable is not science. That which is not physics is stamp collecting.”
— Ernest Rutherford

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

15. “Splitting the atom is like trying to shoot a gnat in the Albert Hall at night and using ten million rounds of ammunition on the off chance of getting it. That should convince you that the atom will always be a sink of energy and never a reservoir of energy.”
— Ernest Rutherford

16. “We are rather like children, who must take a watch to pieces to see how it works.”
— Ernest Rutherford

17. “I must confess it was very unexpected and I am very startled at my metamorphosis into a chemist.”
— Ernest Rutherford

18. “The 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.”
— Ernest Rutherford

19. “Gentlemen, now you will see that now you see nothing. And why you see nothing you will see presently.”
— Ernest Rutherford

20. “A good scientific theory should be explicable to a barmaid.”
— Ernest Rutherford

21. “All scientific men will be delighted to extend their warmest congratulations to Tesla and to express their appreciation of his great contributions to science.”
— Ernest Rutherford

22. “I have to keep going, as there are always people on my track. I have to publish my present work as rapidly as possible in order to keep in the race. The best sprinters in this road of investigation are Becquerel and the Curies…”
— Ernest Rutherford

23. “Should a young scientist working with me come to me after two years of such work and ask me what to do next, I would advise him to get out of science. After two years of work, if a man does not know what to do next, he will never make a real scientist.”
— Ernest Rutherford

24. “Don’t let me catch anyone talking about the Universe in my department.”
— Ernest Rutherford

25. “You should never bet against anything in science at odds of more than about 10-12 to 1.”
— Ernest Rutherford

26. “Every good laboratory consists of first rate men working in great harmony to insure the progress of science; but down at the end of the hall is an unsociable, wrong-headed fellow working on unprofitable lines, and in his hands lies the hope of discovery.”
— Ernest Rutherford

27. “The only possible interpretation of any research whatever in the ‘social sciences’ is: some do, some don’t.”
— Ernest Rutherford

28. “You know, I am sorry for the poor fellows that haven’t got labs to work in.”
— Ernest Rutherford

29. “If, as I have reason to believe, I have disintegrated the nucleus of the atom, this is of greater significance than the war.”
— Ernest Rutherford

30. “It is essential for men of science to take an interest in the administration of their own affairs or else the professional civil servant will step in – and then the Lord help you.”
— Ernest Rutherford

31. “Anyone who is looking for a source of cheap power in the transformation of the atom, is talking pure moonshine.”
— Ernest Rutherford