This massive book deserves five stars for the quality of the research alone. The biography of Ernest Rutherford is minutely detailed, and the explanations of his science thorough. Wilson also does well in providing a wider context for the science and events of Rutherford's life.

That being said the writing does not reach the same heights as the research. Mostly it's pretty good, but this is an extremely dense book, and that density often turns to stodginess. I lost count of the times I had to read lengthy, convoluted sentences over again to keep track of what was going on.

Five stars for research, three for writing.