Record no. MRB-2026-005768

First Scientist to Split the Atom

Reference Record – Not Certified

This record is compiled from publicly available sources for reference. It has not been examined or certified by The Book of World Records.

New Zealand-born physicist Ernest Rutherford achieved the first artificial nuclear reaction, converting nitrogen into oxygen by bombarding it with alpha particles. Often called the "father of nuclear physics," he later won the 1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his earlier work on radioactivity.