All science is either physics or stamp collecting.

— Ernest Rutherford

If, as I have reason to believe, I have disintegrated the nucleus of the atom, this is of greater significance than the

— Ernest Rutherford

If your experiment needs a statistician, you need a better experiment.

— Ernest Rutherford

I think a strong claim can be made that the process of scientific discovery may be regarded as a form of art. This is best seen in the theoretical aspects of Physical Science. The mathematical theorist builds up on certain assumptions and according to well understood logical rules, step by step, a stately edifice, while his imaginative power brings out clearly the hidden relations between its parts. A well constructed theory is in some respects undoubtedly an artistic production. A fine example is the famous Kinetic Theory of Maxwell. ... The theory of relativity by Einstein, quite apart from any question of its validity, cannot but be regarded as a magnificent work of art.

— Ernest Rutherford

It was quite the most incredible event that has ever happened to me in my life. It was almost as incredible as if you fired a 15-inch shell at a piece of tissue paper, and it came back and hi

— Ernest Rutherford

Now I know what the atom looks like.

— Ernest Rutherford

Of all created comforts, God is the lender; you are the borrower, not the owner.

— Ernest Rutherford

The great object is to find the theory of the matter [of X-rays] before anyone else, for nearly every professor in Europe is now on the warpath.

— Ernest Rutherford

You should never bet against anything in science at odds of more than about 1012 to 1.

— Ernest Rutherford