Sir James Chadwick CH was an English physicist who discovered the neutron in 1935. Born into a poor background, he became one of Britain’s most famous scientists. Professor Ernest Rutherford, the department’s leader, noticed him while he was studying physics at Manchester. Rutherford persuaded Chadwick to join him as Director of Research at Cavendish Laboratory. Assistant Director Chadwick discovered neutron, which contributed to the development of the atomic bomb during WWII. He then led the British Mission at the Manhattan Project, and was one of three men with access to all American atomic bomb research and production facilities. His materials are presently housed at the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge. His discovery had been utilized to kill countless innocent people. He was not only a superb physicist but also a terrific human being.
Early Childhood of James Chadwick
James Chadwick was born in Bollington, Cheshire, in 1891. His parents, John Joseph and Anne Mary Knowles, were cotton spinners and domestic servants. He had two younger brothers, Harry and Hubert, and an infant sister.
His parents relocated to Manchester in 1895, leaving him with his grandparents. Bollington Cross Primary School was his first stop. Born a genius, he was given a scholarship at Manchester Grammar School.
Due to the fact that James was still forced to pay a percentage of the tuition, his parents had to decline the offer. instead of Manchester Central Boys’ High School.
In 1908, he enrolled in physics at Manchester University, intending to study mathematics. Nonetheless, he did so well that he earned a Heginbottom scholarship after one year.
Professor Ernest Rutherford, the ‘Father of Nuclear Physics’, led the physics department during the time. He was impressed with young James Chadwick and gave him the task of comparing the quantity of radioactive energy from two sources, which he achieved admirably.
Chadwick graduated with honors in 1911. Se re-enrolling in the same university for his master’s During this time, he kept in touch with
Rutherford. In 1912, he and Rutherford co-authored a paper that published the results of the aforementioned experiment.
Manchester University awarded him a Master of Science in 1913. 1851 Exhibition Scholarship to investigate beta radiation at Charlottenburg’s Physikalisch Technische Reichsanstalt under Professor H. Geiger.
When the First World War broke out, he was incarcerated at the Ruhleben internment camp along with many other Allied residents. But he could set up a temporary laboratory in a stable and conduct experiments with found materials.
In 1918, he returned home. He got a part-time teaching job in Manchester. So he could keep researching. In 1919, he joined Rutherford at Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory.
He won a Wollaston studentship in 1920. This permitted him to enroll in Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, for his PhD. He graduated in 1921.
Career of James Chadwick
James Chadwick became a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College in 1921 and remained so until 1935. In 1923, he became an Assistant Director of Research at Rutherford’s Cavendish Laboratory. He was re-elected a Royal Society Fellow in 1927.
In 1932, while at Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory, he made a significant discovery. He discovered the neutron, a new tool for atomic disintegration that led to the development of atomic bombs.
Chadwick studied at Cambridge until 1935. In May of that year, he was accepted to Liverpool University. He was named to the Lyon Jones Chair of Physics on October 1, 1935.
He then went out to upgrade university infrastructure. He funded the rest of the renovation costs out of his own pocket, using the Nobel Prize money he had earned that year.
In 1939, he was on vacation with his family in northern Sweden. He returned to England and began his duty as soon as he could.
From the Secretary of Scientific and Industrial Research in October 1939, seeking his judgment on the viability of developing an atomic bomb. He didn’t ignore the notion, but saw several obstacles.
Uranium-235 rapid fission was announced by Otto Frisch and Rudolf Peierls in February 1940. The Military Application of Uranium
Detonation Committee (MAUD) was quickly constituted, with Chadwick on it.
Next, a team lead by Chadwick was tasked with finding uranium-235’s nuclear cross section. The team reported by April 1941. In July 1941, Chadwick was instructed to finish the Maud Report. President Roosevelt received it in October 1941.
At the same time, it became evident that Britain could not produce atomic weapons alone. Rather, the US government was willing to invest millions. They had the Manhattan Project.
The USA wanted to harness Chadwick’s talent even if they didn’t need British help. Thus, the Quebec Agreement was signed, resulting in US, UK, and Canadian cooperation. British Mission Chief James Chadwick. He moved to America.
Then he returned to England in 1946.
He was in the meeting that decided to drop the atomic bomb on Japan, and he was there when the first one went off at the Trinity Nuclear Test on July 16, 1945.
He returned to England in 1946, tired. Chadwick was Master of Gonville and Caius College from 1948 to 1959.
From 1957 until 1962, Chadwick was a part-time member of the UKAEA.
Grandiose of James Chadwick
He discovered the neutron. It prepared the way for the fission of Uranium 235, which ultimately led to the building of the atomic bomb.
Unlike helium, Chadwick discovered that neutrons are elementary particles that do not require an electric barrier to cross. It may therefore penetrate and divide the nuclei of even the heaviest atoms.
Honors & Awards
The Royal Society gave him the Hughes Medal for discovering neutron in 1932.
James Chadwick won the physics Nobel Prize in 1935 for discovering the neutron. He donated part of his prize money to the University of Liverpool.
King George VI of Britain knighted Chadwick in 1945 for his wartime achievements.
1951 he was awarded the Franklin Medal of Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute.
Queen Elizabeth II awarded him the Companion of Honour in 1970.
Chadwick was also awarded honorary doctorates from Reading, Dublin, Leeds, Oxford, Birmingham, Montreal (McGill), Liverpool, and Edinburgh.
He was an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Physics and an Honorary Member of the American Philosophical and Physical Societies, among others.
Personal Legacy of James Chadwick
James Chadwick married Aileen Stewart-Brown, a stockbroker’s daughter, in August 1925. Joanna and Judith were born in 1927. His pastimes included gardening and fishing.
Chadwick died peacefully on July 24, 1974, aged 82, in Cambridge, England.
The Chadwick Laboratory at Liverpool University bears his name. Sir James Chadwick Chair of Experimental Physics established in 1991 to commemorate his birth centennial. His name is also a moon crater.
Estimated Net Worth
James is one of the wealthiest and most popular physicists. James Chadwick net worth is estimated at $1.5 Million by Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.
Trivia
Chadwick liked math and physics, but he wanted to study math. A physics professor interviewed him at Victoria University, and was impressed by his knowledge and assumed he wanted to study physics. Chadwick was too bashful to decline a physics major.