In Cambridge in 1932, two of the world’s finest scientific minds were conducting experiments in the renowned Cavendish Laboratory, which many thought were doomed to failure. Their plan was simply to split the nucleus of an atom, and in doing so, be able to harness more energy than ever thought conceivable. These men were John Cockcroft, an English physicist from Yorkshire, and Ernest Walton, a 29-year old graduate of Trinity College Dublin from Dungarvan. The pair were a perfect match. Where Cockcroft was the theorist, Walton was the practical researcher, personally building the particle accelerator they were using for their trials. Walton’s construction was the … Continue reading In Trinity’s Physics Department, Reminders of Atom-Smashing Ernest Walton’s Brilliance