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Felled by a sniper's bullet in the Dardanelles on 10 August 1915, Henry Moseley had been the brightest hope in British physics. Not yet 30, his discoveries had already made such a global impact, that leading thinkers in both warring factions paused to pay their respects - not just in Britain and France but also in Germany. The American Nobel laureate Robert Millikan declared: 鈥淗ad the European War had no other result than the snuffing out of this young life, that alone would make it one of the most hideous and irreparable crimes in history.鈥� Physicist Charles Darwin (grandson of the biologist) claimed 鈥淢oseley was without exaggeration the most brilliant man I ever met.鈥� Ernest Rutherford 鈥� discoverer of the atomic nucleus 鈥� used Moseley鈥檚 death (鈥渁 striking example misuse of scientific talent鈥�) to change forever the military鈥檚 attitude to thoughtless conscription.

In this special anniversary edition of Discovery, science journalist Roland Pease looks at the brief and luminous career of Henry Moseley, and how in an 18-month frenzy of activity, he revealed the structure of the atom, explained the basis of the chemists鈥� periodic table, and laid the foundations for chemistry overall.

(Photo: Henry Moseley. Credit: Science Photo Library)