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Who among the following is known as the Father of Nuclear Physics?
Explanation
Ernest Rutherford is widely recognized as the Father of Nuclear Physics. He earned this title through his pioneering work in radioactivity and his discovery of the atomic nucleus. In his famous 1911 gold foil experiment, he demonstrated that the atom has a tiny, dense, positively charged core, overturning the previously accepted "plum pudding" model proposed by J.J. Thomson. Rutherford was also the first to artificially transmute one element into another and is credited with the discovery of the proton. While other scientists listed made monumental contributions—J.J. Thomson discovered the electron, Niels Bohr developed the Bohr model of the atom, and James Chadwick discovered the neutron—it was Rutherford's conceptualization of the nucleus that established the foundation for the entire field of nuclear physics.