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Jeff Hughes
Studied Chemistry at the University of Oxford and History of Science at the
University of Cambridge. A former Research Fellow at Cambridge, he has
been Lecturer in History of Science and Technology at the University of
Manchester since 1993. His research interests are in the social and cultural
history of radioactivity and nuclear physics. He is current/y completing books
on the discovery of isotopes and on the history of nuclear physics 1918-
1940. He was Secretary of the British Society for the History of Science
1995-2000, and also has interests in history of science and the public
understanding of science.

Abstract: Nuclear Phvsics at the Cavendish Laboratory in the Thirties
Ernest Rutherford became Professor of Experimental Physics at the
Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, in 1919. He brought with him a
programme of research into radioactivity and the nature of the atomo Contrary
to the 'sealing wax and strinq' stories which surround the Cavendish,

Rutherford worked with many colleagues and students using sophisticated
instrumentation and theories in his quest to map the structure of the nucleus.
However his programme faced uncertainty inside the lab and controversy
from without. This talk explores some of the hidden history of nuclear physics
at the Cavendish and its relations with other laboratories.