The Fly in the Cathedral: How a Group of Cambridge Scientists Won the International Race to Split the Atom.

THE FLY IN THE CATHEDRAL: HOW a Group of Cambridge Scientists Won the International Race to Split the Atom

BRIAN CATHCART

All matter is mostly empty space. Each of the multitude of atoms that makes up our universe has its mass concentrated in a tiny nucleus. If the atom were a cathedral, the nucleus would be no bigger than a fly. Cathcart finds that this fact makes the achievement of British physicists John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton almost inconceivable. In 1932, they split an atom's nucleus. At the time, the author points out, most homes didn't have electricity and microscopes couldn't reveal things much smaller than a pinhead. In recounting the history of Cockcroft and Walton's achievement, Cathcart begins with Ernest Marsden's observations in 1909 of flashes of light bouncing from a piece of glass under a microscope. This effect was taking place at a scale smaller than atoms, Ernest Rutherford surmised. He would use this idea to formulate a theory of the atomic nucleus, but he was stumped about how to go further. Cockcroft and Walton would take up the effort at Rutherford's Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge. This group of British scientists would win a fierce international race to split the nucleus. Cathcart entertainingly explores the political and social repercussions of Cockcroft and Walton's work while clearly detailing the science. Originally published in the United Kingdom in 2004. FS&G, 2005, 308 p., h&w plates, hardcover, $25.00.