October 20, 1891 - Birth of James Chadwick, discoverer of the neutron

In 1921 he began working at the Cavendish Laboratory under the guidance of the renowned Ernest Rutherford, who had theorized on the structure of atomic nuclei, formed in his conception by protons and electrons.

In 1932, after bombarding beryllium with alpha particles, Chadwick experimentally demonstrated the presence of the neutron in the atom, a particle with a mass similar to that of the proton but with no electric charge. He proposed his atomic model, thus completing the atomic structure previously proposed by Rutherford.

Chadwick reported his findings in the journal Nature. However, his research did not attempt to delve into the proper functions of the neutron in the atomic nucleus, a task that was taken over by the German physicist Werner Heisenberg, marking the beginning of quantum physics.

In 1935, Chadwick moved to Liverpool after falling out with Rutherford, who frowned upon the construction of a cyclotron, and there he taught physics at the University. That same year he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering the neutron.

If you want to know more about this scientist, click on the following link: James Chadwick