Ernest Rutherford. Portrait of New Zealand born physicist Sir Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937), painted by Janssens in 1917. In 1903, together with Soddy, Rutherford discovered that radioactive decay occurs by successive disintegrations of atoms. In 1911, he proposed a model for the atom in which the positive electric charge (protons) is concentrated in a small region, the nucleus. He also showed that atoms can be changed when bombarded with alpha particles (nuclear transmut- ation). He is considered to be the father of nuclear physics. He was awarded the Nobel Prize, for chemistry, in 1908. Prof. Peter Fowler asked in his letter of 10.2.95 not to be included in the credit line.