Ernest Rutherford (not a science martyr*) came up with the orbital model of the atom (that it has a nucleus and that stuff, you know, orbits around it) after he had some kids (including Gieger, of the counter!) pelt some gold foil with some atoms or something.
Rutherford is concidered the Big Daddy of nuclear physics—he later worked on/helped create the Manhattan project—and he won himself a Nobel.
His nickname was “crockodile”.
Rutherford once said: “In science there is only physics; all the rest is stamp collecting.”
For Matt S.
*You could call Rutherford the anti-science martyr, as his death was directly the fault of archaic (and offensive) rules that stated only titled lords could operate on other titled lords (Rutherford was titled), causing a delay in treatment that cost Rutherford his life.
