Sir Ernest Marsden (1888 - 1970), was a British-New Zealand physicist. Born in Lancashire, he met Ernest Rutherford at Manchester University. While still an undergraduate he conducted the famous alpha particle scattering experiment in 1908 together with Hans Geiger under Rutherford's supervision. In 1914 he moved to Victoria University in Wellington, NZ . Marsden served in France during World War I as a Royal Engineer , earning the Military Cross. Following the war he became New Zealand's leading scientist, founding the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) in 1926 and organizing its research particularly in the area of agriculture. During World War II he worked on radar research, and in 1947 became scientific liason officer in London. He died at his home on Wellington bay in 1970.

Marsden's career recognitions included fellowship in the Royal Society of London in 1946, president of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1947, and knighthood in 1958.

External links

• University of Canterbury (NZ) biography of Marsden
• Biography at E=MC² site in New Zealand