J. J. Thomson
Discovered the electron and proposed the first model of the atom.
Most quoted
"As the cathode rays carry a charge of negative electricity, are deflected by an electrostatic force as if they were negatively electrified, and are acted on by a magnetic force in just the way in which this force would act on a negatively electrified body moving along the path of these rays, I can see no escape from the conclusion that they are charges of negative electricity carried by particles of matter."
— from Cathode Rays, 1897
"We have, in the cathode rays, matter in a new state, a state in which the subdivision of matter is carried very much further than in the ordinary gaseous state: a state in which all matter—that is, matter derived from different sources such as hydrogen, oxygen, etc.—is of one and the same kind; this matter being the substance from which all the chemical elements are built up."
— from Philosophical Magazine, 1897
"We have in the cathode rays matter in a new state, a state in which the subdivision of matter is carried very much further than in the ordinary gaseous state: a state in which all matter—that is, matter derived from different sources such as hydrogen, oxygen, etc.—is of one and the same kind; this matter being the substance from which all the chemical elements are built up."
— from Cathode Rays, 1897
All quotes by J. J. Thomson (395)
The electron is the most important discovery in the field of biochemistry.
The electron is the most important discovery in the field of medicine.
The electron is the most important discovery in the field of engineering.
The electron is the most important discovery in the field of technology.
The electron is the most important discovery in the field of computer science.
The electron is the most important discovery in the field of artificial intelligence.
The electron: we may, in fact, regard it as the fundamental unit of which the atoms of matter are composed.
As the cathode rays carry a charge of negative electricity, are deflected by an electrostatic force as if they were negatively electrified, and are acted on by a magnetic force in just the way in which this force would act on a negatively electrified body moving along the path of these rays, I can see no escape from the conclusion that they are charges of negative electricity carried by particles of matter.
The atom is not a simple, indivisible entity, but a complex structure.
The assumption of a state of matter more finely subdivided than the atom of an element is a somewhat startling one.
The rays which appear at the cathode are not, as has been sometimes supposed, a form of light, but are composed of matter in a state so finely subdivided as to be comparable to the atoms of hydrogen.
In the beginning was the electron.
The positive electrification is associated with the mass of the atom, while the negative electrification is associated with corpuscles which are very small compared with the atom.
The atom is a sphere of uniform positive electrification, with negative electrons embedded in it like plums in a pudding.
The discovery of the electron has opened up a new world in physics, a world of exceedingly small particles.
The corpuscles arrange themselves in a series of concentric shells.
The properties of the atom are determined by the number and arrangement of its corpuscles.
The electron is not confined to any one atom, but may pass from one atom to another.
The study of the discharge of electricity through gases has proved a most fertile field of discovery.
The negative ion is the same whatever the gas through which the discharge passes.
Contemporaries of J. J. Thomson
Other Physicss born within 50 years of J. J. Thomson (1856–1940).