Modern dating methods. 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. In the century since then the techniques have been greatly improved and expanded.Modern dating methods. Radiometric dating has been carried out since 1905 when it was invented by Ernest Rutherford

How did Ernest Rutherford discover radiometric dating?

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.