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

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

[From uranium] there are present at least two distinct types of radiation one that is very readily absorbed, which will be termed for convenience the α radiation, and the other of a more penetrative character, which will be termed the β radiation.

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.

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

Should a young scientist working with me come to me after two years of such work and ask me what to do next, I would advise him to get out of science. After two years of work, if a man does not know what to do next, he will never make a real scientist.

All science is either physics or stamp collecting.