Sir Ernest Rutherford has been called the 'father of nuclear physics' When Donald Trump claimed US scientists split the atom in his inaugural speech, even he could not have imagined the chain ...

Ernest Rutherford's family emigrated from England to New ... He discovered the atomic nucleus and developed a model of the atom that was similar to the solar system. Like planets, electrons ...

who in 1897 discovered the electron and in 1904 proposed a model of the atom — was the first person to be credited with splitting the atom. Rutherford, the New Zealand-born scientist ...

In simple terms, that assertion is correct, but for those with an expertise in the field, the longer answer to who did it first is almost as complex as the science involved. After all, as particle ...