As an Oxford Chemistry graduate, Soddy went to work as a demonstrator in Montreal. There, he collaborated with Rutherford at the start of this century on an explanation of the nature of radioactivity. In their disintegration theory, they proposed that heavy atoms are unstable, and that changes in their mass and charge cause the formation of new elements. In 1913, he was among those who formulated the radioactive displacement law of emission of alpha and beta particles, and he gave us the word "isotopes". Having gained a chair at Oxford, he became more involved with politics and administration after his efforts to reform the teaching of chemistry went unheeded. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921.
Page last updated 7 November 2012