How did Ernest Rutherford use scintillations from alpha particles in his atomic research?

In his groundbreaking atomic research, Ernest Rutherford utilized scintillations as a method to detect and count individual alpha particles.1

To conduct these experiments, Rutherford and his associates used a screen coated with zinc sulfide, which served as a fluorescent detector. When an alpha particle struck this screen, it produced a brief burst of light known as a scintillation. By observing these flashes through a viewing microscope attached to the back of the screen, researchers could track the particles' trajectories.1

This setup was critical to the 1909 experiments performed by Ernest Marsden and Hans Geiger under Rutherford's direction. By observing how alpha particles were scattered after passing through thin gold foil, Rutherford was able to determine that some particles were deflected at large angles or even bounced back. This evidence led him to propose the Rutherford model, which correctly identified that the atom consists of a tiny, dense, positively charged nucleus surrounded by mostly empty space.12