Ernest Walton
| Ernest Walton | |
|---|---|
Ernest Walton
|
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| Born | 6 October 1903 Abbeyside, Dungarvan, Ireland |
| Died | 25 June 1995 (aged 91) Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions |
Trinity College Dublin University of Cambridge Methodist College Belfast Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies |
| Doctoral advisor | Ernest Rutherford |
| Known for | The first disintegration of an atomic nucleus by artificially accelerated protons ("splitting the atom") |
| Notable awards | Hughes Medal (1938) Nobel Prize in Physics (1951) |
Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton (6 October 1903 – 25 June 1995) was an Irish physicist and Nobel laureate for his work with John Cockcroft with "atom-smashing" experiments done at Cambridge University in the early 1930s, and so became the first person in history to artificially split the atom.
Ernest Walton was born in Abbeyside, Dungarvan, County Waterford to a Methodist minister father, Rev John Walton (1874–1936) and Anna Sinton (1874–1906). In those days a general clergyman's family moved once every three years, and this practice carried Ernest and his family, while he was a small child, to Rathkeale, County Limerick (where his mother died) and to County Monaghan. He attended day schools in counties Down and Tyrone, and at Wesley College Dublin before becoming a boarder at Methodist College Belfast in 1915, where he excelled in science and mathematics.
In 1922 Walton won scholarships to Trinity College, Dublin for the study of mathematics and science. He was awarded bachelor's and master's degrees from Trinity in 1926 and 1927, respectively. During these years at college, Walton received numerous prizes for excellence in physics and mathematics (seven prizes in all), including the Foundation Scholarship in 1924. Following graduation he was awarded an 1851 Research Fellowship from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 and was accepted as a research student at Trinity College, Cambridge, under the supervision of Sir Ernest Rutherford, Director of Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory. At the time there were four Nobel Prize laureates on the staff at the Cavendish lab and a further five were to emerge, including Walton and John Cockcroft. Walton was awarded his PhD in 1931 and remained at Cambridge as a researcher until 1934.
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