History man aims to bring physics knight out of the shadows
ORGANISERS of a talk about an influential scientist hope to raise the profile of one of Macclesfield’s forgotten heroes.
As a Nobel Prize winner, knight of the realm and one of the key figures in the creation of the atomic bomb, Sir James Chadwick has remained relatively unknown in the 45 years since his death.
On Tuesday, May 21, Bollington Cross Primary, Chadwick’s former school, hosted a talk by a leading historian on the Nobel laureate from Bollington who discovered the neutron.
Peter Rowlands, of the Institute of Physics history group, spoke to the Express ahead of his talk.
Born to a working class family in Clarke Lane, Chadwick spent much of his early years in the care of his grandparents before leaving for Victoria University in Manchester in 1908.
Peter said: “There’s a famous story about how he was going to study mathematics but he got into the wrong queue but was too embarrassed, so he ended up in physics. “That was typical of him.”
Taught by Ernest Rutherford, regarded as the father of nuclear physics, he then went to Berlin where he remained until the First World War broke out in 1914.
Interned for the duration of the war, something which ‘seriously affected’ his health, Peter said this may have been why he wasn’t as vocal as other colleagues.
Chadwick returned to England after the war, becoming Rutherford’s second in command at a key Cambridge laboratory. He married a woman from Liverpool and became a father to twin girls.
In 1932, he discovered the neutron - for which he received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1935 and a knighthood in 1945 - and made a huge difference to how the atom was discovered.
Peter said: “It was one of the major discoveries of the 20th century, one that will always be remembered.
“You can’t talk about physics without talking about neutrons - the whole of nuclear energy depends on it. It’s one of the building blocks of matter.”
A few years later, Chadwick was invited to join the government’s MAUD Committee, which was investigating the possibility of creating an atomic bomb.
By this point, Chadwick was leading a team of scientists in Liverpool, despite the Luftwaffe’s bombing campaign on the city, and was chosen to write the committee’s final report.
This report triggered America’s involvement in nuclear weapons and Chadwick became a key part of the illustrious Manhattan Project, heading up the British contingent in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Due to the secrecy of the project, even 70 years later, Peter said we may never know exactly what Chadwick did behind closed doors.
Nevertheless, we do know that he was ‘tremendously important’ for kick-starting the movement and he was responsible for the ‘considerable contribution’ of the British team.
Peter said Chadwick’s internment during the War was a huge motivation, fearing what the Nazis were capable of with such a weapon.
“He made sure the allies got in ahead of them just in case they got it”, Peter added.
“He sacrificed himself for his country, there is no question. He was put through agony for his war work. A lot of people didn’t understand but he felt he had to go and help.
“It would have been complete suicide not to do it.”
The Americans went on to successfully detonate an atomic bomb, owing much to the work of Chadwick, but his efforts are not often as heralded as others.
Peter said: “He was a really quiet sort of man. Other people that are more famous were more flamboyant.
“He didn’t put himself forward. He was not the most vocal character, he just quietly got on with his job.”
His final position was a return to education, as Master of a Cambridge college. Back at his first place of learning, a blue plaque at Bollington Cross Primary School has marked his achievements for the last ten years.
Headteacher Yenson Donbavand said the school had created a special lesson for pupils and a permanent display. He hopes this will help raise the profile of the ‘amazing person’ that Chadwick was and teach the children some valuable lessons.
“He was quite a nurturing person as well as a terrific scientist”, he said.
“Everybody at some point of their life might face adversity but he actually went on to do some amazing things in the world.
“As a Bollingtonian he’s a massive part of the history of this town.”