Who is credited with proving that the plum pudding model was incorrect?

The plum pudding model, proposed by J.J. Thomson, depicted the atom as a positively charged "soup" in which negatively charged electrons were embedded like plums. Its downfall came with the experiments conducted by Ernest Rutherford, particularly his gold foil experiment. In this groundbreaking experiment, Rutherford directed a stream of alpha particles at a thin sheet of gold foil.

While most alpha particles passed through the foil, a small fraction were deflected at large angles, and a few even bounced back. This unexpected scattering indicated that the positive charge and most of the mass of the atom were concentrated in a very small nucleus, rather than being distributed throughout a diffuse positive "pudding." Rutherford's findings led to the development of the nuclear model of the atom, fundamentally changing our understanding of atomic structure. Thus, he is credited with proving the plum pudding model incorrect, establishing a new paradigm in atomic theory.

In contrast, the other individuals listed made significant contributions to science but did not directly challenge the plum pudding model.