J. J. Thomson
18 December 1856 – 30 August 1940
Sir Joseph John Thomson (1856-1940) was a British physicist credited with the discovery of the electron in 1897, the first subatomic particle to be identified. As Cavendish Professor at Cambridge he built one of the world's leading physics laboratories, won the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physics, and trained a remarkable number of future Nobel laureates including Ernest Rutherford.
Lived at the same time
Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with J. J. Thomson.
- Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) Overlapped 84 years →
- Charles Sherrington (1857–1952) Overlapped 83 years →
- Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Overlapped 83 years →
- Max Planck (1858–1947) Overlapped 82 years →
- John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937) Overlapped 81 years →
- Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936) Overlapped 80 years →
Life events
Joseph John Thomson was born near Manchester, the son of a bookseller.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThomson began studying engineering and then the sciences at Owens College (later the University of Manchester).
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThomson won a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating as second wrangler in 1880 and becoming a fellow of Trinity in 1881.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAt the unusually young age of 27, Thomson was elected Cavendish Professor at Cambridge, succeeding Lord Rayleigh, and led the Cavendish Laboratory for 35 years.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThomson married Rose Paget, one of the first women to conduct advanced research at the Cavendish Laboratory; their son George Paget Thomson also became a Nobel laureate in physics.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThrough experiments on cathode rays, Thomson showed they consist of negatively charged particles much lighter than atoms, announcing the discovery of what became known as the electron.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThomson proposed a model of the atom in which electrons are embedded in a sphere of positive charge, an influential though later superseded picture.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThomson received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his theoretical and experimental investigations on the conduction of electricity by gases.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThomson was appointed Master of Trinity College, a position he held until shortly before his death.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThomson died at age 83 and his ashes were interred in Westminster Abbey near the graves of Newton and Rutherford.
Source: en.wikipedia.org