J. J. Thomson
British physicist (1856-1940) · United Kingdom · Scientists · Died at 83
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Something wrong?He cracked open the atom. In 1897, J. J. Thomson proved that cathode rays were streams of tiny, negatively charged particles - electrons - the first subatomic particle anyone had seen. The discovery rewrote matter itself.
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, The difficulties which would have to be overcome to make several of the preceding experiments conclusive are so great as to be almost insurmountable.
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Joseph John Thomson was born on 18 December 1856 in Britain. In 1897, his cathode ray experiments revealed particles much smaller than atoms with an enormous charge-to-mass ratio: electrons, the first subatomic building blocks. The work earned him the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physics. He later turned to canal rays and positive ions, finding the first evidence for isotopes of a stable element in 1912 and pioneering mass spectrometry with Francis William Aston. Seven of his students won Nobels, including Ernest Rutherford and his own son, George Paget Thomson. He died on 30 August 1940, having taught a generation that dismantled the atom he'd first opened.
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