Ernest Walton: Pioneer of Nuclear Physics

Ernest Walton

Irish experimental physicist. He received guidance from Ernest Rutherford at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge and developed a device that accelerates protons with high voltage in collaboration with John Cockcroft. In 1932, by bombarding lithium atomic nuclei with accelerated protons, he succeeded for the first time in artificial nuclear transformation, so-called "splitting the atom." For this achievement, he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics with Cockcroft in 1951. Returning to Ireland in 1934, he engaged in research and education at Trinity College Dublin and made significant contributions to the development of physics education and research in Ireland.

Timeline

Category
Element

Year	Ernest Walton
1903	Birth of Ernest Walton (Period: October 6, 1903, Location: Dungarvan, County Waterford, Ireland)
1915	Studies at Methodist College Belfast (Age: 11 years old, Period: 1915–1922, Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland)
1922	Irish Civil War (Age: 18 years old, Period: 1922–1923, Location: Dublin, Ireland, and other locations) Postponement of University Entrance Examination due to Irish Civil War (Ernest Walton, Age: 18 years old, Period: 1922, Location: Dublin, Ireland) Admission to Trinity College Dublin (Ernest Walton, Age: 18 years old, Period: 1922, Location: Dublin, Ireland)
1927	Master's Degree at Trinity College (Ernest Walton, Age: 23 years old, Period: 1927, Location: Dublin, Ireland) Start of Research under Rutherford (Age: 23 years old, Period: 1927–1931, Location: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, England)
1928	Accelerator Research with Cockcroft (Age: 24 years old, Period: 1928–1932, Location: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge)
1931	Doctorate (Ernest Walton, Age: 27 years old, Period: 1931, Location: University of Cambridge, England)
1932	Nuclear Transmutation by the Cockcroft-Walton Experiment (Age: 28 years old, Period: April 14, 1932, Location: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, England)
1934	Return to Trinity College Dublin (Ernest Walton, Age: 30 years old, Period: 1934, Location: Dublin, Ireland) Marriage to Winifred Wilson (Age: 30 years old, Period: August 23, 1934, Location: Dublin, Ireland) Marriage (Ernest Walton, Winifred Isabel Wilson, Age: 30 years old, Period: August 23, 1934, Location: Methodist Centenary Church, Dublin, Ireland)
1938	Hughes Medal (Ernest Walton, Age: 34 years old, Period: 1938, Location: London, United Kingdom)
1939	World War II (Age: 35 years old, Period: 1939–1945, Location: UK, France, North Africa, Mediterranean, Atlantic, etc.) Decline of Invitation to Participate in Wartime Research during World War II (Age: 35 years old, Period: 1939–1945, Location: United Kingdom, United States)
1946	Appointment as Erasmus Smith Professor (Ernest Walton, Age: 42 years old, Period: 1946–1974, Location: Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)
1950	Participation in the Irish Pugwash Movement (Age: 46 years old, Period: 1950s–1990s, Location: Dublin, Ireland, and other locations) Construction of Accelerator at Trinity College (Age: 46 years old, Period: 1950, Location: Dublin, Ireland) Cooperation in Establishing the Irish Pugwash Group (Age: 46 years old, Period: 1950s–1960s, Location: Dublin, Ireland)
1951	Nobel Prize in Physics (Ernest Walton, Age: 47 years old, Period: 1951, Location: Stockholm, Sweden)
1974	Retirement from Trinity College (Ernest Walton, Age: 70 years old, Period: 1974, Location: Dublin, Ireland)
1993	Donation of Nobel Medal and Mementos to Trinity College (Age: 89 years old, Period: 1993–1995, Location: Dublin, Ireland)
1995	Death of Ernest Walton (Age: 91 years old, Period: June 25, 1995)

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Group	List
British Politics	David Lloyd George Winston Churchill Stanley Baldwin Neville Chamberlain Clement Attlee Anthony Eden Edward Wood Ernest Bevin
French Politics	Georges Clemenceau Charles de Gaulle Paul Reynaud Édouard Daladier Léon Blum Philippe Pétain Maxime Weygand Maurice Gamelin
Jewish relief	Anne Frank Etty Hillesum Edith Stein Raoul Wallenberg Aristides de Sousa Mendes Varian Fry Nicholas Winton Chiune Sugihara
Nuclear Science	Lise Meitner James Chadwick John Cockcroft Ernest Walton Patrick Blackett Mark Oliphant Otto Hahn Otto Robert Frisch

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Ernest Walton: Pioneer of Nuclear Physics

Ernest Walton

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