Ernest Rutherford
1871–1937 (age 66)
Biography
Ernest Rutherford, often called the father of nuclear physics, transformed scientific understanding of the atom through his daring experiments on radiation and the nucleus, work that earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908.
As master of the Cavendish Laboratory and later president of the Royal Society, he guided generations of researchers and provided counsel to the nation, leaving a legacy so cherished that Westminster Abbey enshrines his memory among the great voices of science.