In many ways, the Rutherford model of the atom is the classic model of the atom, even though it's no longer considered an accurate representation. Rutherford's model shows that an atom is mostly empty space, with electrons orbiting a fixed, positively charged nucleus in set, predictable paths.
This model of an atom was developed by Ernest Rutherford, a New Zealand native working at the University of Manchester in England in the early 1900s. Rutherford spent most of his academic career researching aspects of radioactivity and, in 1908, won the Nobel Prize for his discoveries related to radioactivity. It was after this that Rutherford began developing his model of the atom.
