A Fly in the Cathedral

A short while ago, we had discussed the discovery of the nucleus along with the proton. Ernest Rutherford had used his famous Gold-Foil Experiment to come up with this massive breakthrough. In class, we discussed how the atom is made up of mostly empty space and the nucleus is very small in comparison to the rest of the atom. We used the analogy of a marble in Ott Field. This eventually led to the discussion of splitting the atom and the atomic bomb.

The book "A Fly In The Cathedral" is a true story about 20 years after Rutherford's Gold Foil experiment. It describes the race between John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton, other American Scientists and German Scientists to become the first group to split the atom and create the atomic bomb.

This is an interesting read for those who are interested in learning more about this time period and the Science behind it. The book can be found on Amazon.com for 1 cent plus shipping (total is around $4.00).

I would highly recommend this book to all students who have talked about Rutherford and his experiment and are interested in learning the aftershock of his experiments.


Here is the cover of the book: