Brief biography of JJ Thomson

J.J Thomson (born December 18, 1856, Cheetham Hill, near

Manchester, England-died August 30, 1940, Cambridge,
Cambridgeshire) English physicist who helped revolutionize the
knowledge of atomic structure by his discovery of the electron
(1897). He received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1906 and was
knighted in 1908.

Thomson was the son of a bookseller in a suburb of Manchester.

When he was only 14, he entered Owens College, now the
University of Manchester. He was fortunate in that, in contrast
with most colleges at the time, Owens provided some courses in
experimental physics. In 1876 he obtained a scholarship at Trinity
College, Cambridge, where he remained for the rest of his life.
After taking his B.A. degree in mathematics in 1880, the
opportunity of doing experimental research drew him to the
Cavendish Laboratory. He also began to develop the theory of
electromagnetism. As set forth by James Clerk Maxwell,
electricity and magnetism were interrelated; quantitative changes
in one produced corresponding changes in the other.

Prompt recognition of Thomson's achievement by the scientific

community came in 1884 with his election as a fellow of the Royal
Society of London and appointment to the chair of physics at the
Cavendish Laboratory. Thomson entered physics at a critical
point in its history. Following the great discoveries of the 19th
century in electricity, magnetism, and thermodynamics, many
physicists in the 1880s were saying that their science was coming
to an end like an exhausted mine. By 1900, however, only elderly
conservatives held this view, and by 1914 a new physics was in
existence, which raised, indeed, more questions than it could
answer. The new physics was wildly exciting to those who were
lucky enough to be engaged in it, saw its boundless possibilities.
Probably not more than a half dozen great physicists were
associated with this char Although not everyone would have listed
the same names, th rity of those qualified to judge would have
included Thomson.