jan 1, 1907 - ERNEST RUTHERFORD (1871-1937 CE)
date of discovery (1907 CE)
Fired alpha particles at gold foil and
deduced that the atom is composed
mostly of empty space with electrons
orbiting in a set, predictable paths
around fixed, positively charged nucleus.
Although his model was partially
inaccurate, it helped form the basis
of the quantum mechanics and helped
the future development of quantum
mechanics.
