Uranium-Series Dating In 1902, physicists Ernest Rutherford and Frederick Soddy had discovered that radioactive elements broke down into other elements in a definite sequence or series, through the process of nuclear fission. In 1906, Rutherford began calculating the rate of radioactive decay of uranium.

Who discovered radiometric decay?

Ernest Rutherford Radiometric dating has been carried out since 1905 when it was invented by Ernest Rutherford as a method by which one might determine the age of the Earth.

What is the method used by Rutherford to determine the age of rocks *?

In 1904, Rutherford gave a talk at Yale that inspired Boltwood to investigate for himself the decay process of uranium, and when later that year, in St. He proposed that one could calculate the age of rocks by comparing the uranium and lead levels in those rocks.