Ernest Walton was an Irish physicist
who shared the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics with John Crockcroft for
their work on splitting the atomic nucleus. He was first person in the
history to artificially split the atom and was instrumental in the
development of nuclear power. Born to a Methodist minister father and
his childhood saw him moving from town to town on a regular basis. He
studied as a boarder at the Methodist Belfast College and excelled in
science and mathematics. He won scholarships to Trinity College, Dublin
for studying mathematics and science. He completed his bachelor’s and
master’s degree from Trinity and thereafter got a research fellowship to
work as a researcher at Trinity College, Cambridge. At Cambridge
University, he worked at the famous Cavendish Laboratory under Lord
Rutherford and before long he started working in collaboration with John
Cockcroft on atom splitting that opened up a new chapter in modern
nuclear physics. It also led to the confirmation of the theories
pertaining to the atomic structure that were propounded by other
scientists. Subsequently he started working at Trinity College, Dublin
as a fellow and spent the rest of his career at the college. He was made
the Erasmus Smith Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy at
Trinity College.
Childhood & Early Life
- Ernest Walton was born 6 October 1903, in Dungarvan, Ireland to Reverend John Walton and Anna Sinton. His father was a Methodist minister and his occupation made him move from one place to another, which meant that the rest of the family did the same. His mother passed away in 1906
- Throughout his childhood he stayed in several places like Rathleake and County Monaghan among others at different stages. Initially he attended schools in Down and Tyrone before studying at Wesley College Dublin. In 1915, he joined the Methodist College Belfast as a boarder.
- In 1922, he won a scholarship to study at Trinity College in Dublin. At Trinity College, he studied the courses in both mathematics honours and honours in experimental science and four years after joining the college he graduated in both. In 1927, he completed his master’s from Trinity College.Major Works
- His collaboration with Cockcroft that helped in producing the Cockcroft-Walton generator that helped in confirming the atomic structure and also showed how bombardment can help split the nucleus of an atom is his most important work. It laid in starting a new era in the field of nuclear physics and he also shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for his research.
Awards & Achievements - In 1938, Walton and Cockcroft shared the Hughes Medal awarded by the Royal Society of London “for their discovery that nuclei could be disintegrated by artificially produced bombarding particles.” In 1951, he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with John Cockcroft for his work on ‘atom smashing’.
Personal Life & Legacy
- In 1934, Ernest Walton got married to Freda Wilson, who had also been a student of the Methodist College. The couple had four children; two sons and two daughters.
- Ernest Walton died on 25 June 1995, at the age of 91, in Belfast, Ireland.
