Joseph John Thomson
1856–1940, Cheetham Hill, Manchester, England, Cambridge, England
British physicist who discovered the electron through cathode-ray research, showed that atoms have internal structure, and received the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Thomson studied at Owens College in Manchester and then Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1884 he became Cavendish Professor of Physics. From his 1897 cathode-ray experiments, he concluded that the rays consisted of negatively charged particles far smaller than atoms, which he initially called corpuscles and which are now known as electrons.
He measured the particles' charge-to-mass ratio and proposed an atomic model with electrons embedded in positive charge. Thomson received the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physics for his investigations of the conduction of electricity by gases.
Nobel-winning work
J. J. Thomson won the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physics 'for his theoretical and experimental investigations on the conduction of electricity by gases'. His 1897 cathode-ray experiments measured the charge-to-mass ratio e/m of the 'corpuscle' — the electron — showing it is a universal subatomic constituent of matter. The discovery opened the study of atomic structure.
Workplaces: University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, Trinity College, Cambridge
United Kingdom