Baron Ernest Rutherford is considered by many as the father of modern day nuclear physics. He was born in New Zealand and taught at both Cambridge University and at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Rutherford discovered alpha and beta particles and contributed much to our understanding of atomic structure. It was he who suggested that the structure of the atom was analagous to that of a solar system, with electrons orbiting around the central nucleus. Rutherford was awarded the Noble Prize in chemistry in 1908.