The energy produced by the breaking down of the atom is a very poor kind of thing. Anyone who expects a source of power from the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine. — Ernest Rutherford

I am a great believer in the simplicity of things and as you probably know I am inclined to hang on to broad & simple ideas like grim death until evidence is too strong for my tenacity. — Ernest Rutherford

You know, I am sorry for the poor fellows that haven’t got labs to work in. — Ernest Rutherford

We haven’t got the money, so we’ve got to think. — Ernest Rutherford

I must confess it was very unexpected and I am very startled at my metamorphosis into a chemist. — Ernest Rutherford

You should never bet against anything in science at odds of more than about 10–12 to 1. — Ernest Rutherford

That which is not measurable is not science. That which is not physics is stamp collecting. — Ernest Rutherford

A good scientific theory should be explicable to a barmaid. — Ernest Rutherford

The only possible interpretation of any research whatever in the ‘social sciences’ is: some do, some don’t. — Ernest Rutherford

It is essential for men of science to take an interest in the administration of their own affairs or else the professional civil servant will step in–and then the Lord help you. — Ernest Rutherford

Gentlemen, now you will see that now you see nothing. And why you see nothing you will see presently. — Ernest Rutherford

It was almost as incredible as if you fired a 15–inch shell at a piece of tissue paper and it came back and hit you. — Ernest Rutherford

All of physics is either impossible or trivial. It is impossible until you understand it, and then it becomes trivial. — Ernest Rutherford

An alleged scientific discovery has no merit unless it can be explained to a barmaid. — Ernest Rutherford

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

All science is either physics or stamp collecting. — Ernest Rutherford

If your result needs a statistician then you should design a better experiment. — Ernest Rutherford

Don’t let me catch anyone talking about the Universe in my department. — Ernest Rutherford

If, as I have reason to believe, I have disintegrated the nucleus of the atom, this is of greater significance than the war. — Ernest Rutherford

Never say, ‘I tried it once and it did not work. — Ernest Rutherford

Gentlemen, we have run out of money. It is time to start thinking. — Ernest Rutherford

If you don’t do the best with what you have, You could never have done better with what you could have had ! — Ernest Rutherford

The only possible conclusion that social sciences can draw is some do, some don’t. — Ernest Rutherford

The more physics you have the less engineering you need. — Ernest Rutherford

A theory that you can’t explain to a bartender is probably no damn good. — 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

We are rather like children, who must take a watch to pieces to see how it works. — Ernest Rutherford

Now I know what the atom looks like. — Ernest Rutherford