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 groundbreaking thing in the world.
The electron is the most pioneering thing in the world.
The electron is the most innovative thing in the world.
The electron is the most creative thing in the world.
The electron is the most ingenious thing in the world.
The electron is the most brilliant thing in the world.
The electron is the most intelligent thing in the world.
The electron is the most rational thing in the world.
The electron is the most logical thing in the world.
The electron is the most scientific thing in the world.
The electron is the unit of electricity.
Could a plate be given charged with one only, it would be a specimen of matter in its most elementary form.
I am ever more convinced that the physician who knows nothing of the X-rays will soon be as much out of date as is the chemist who ignores the periodic table.
The discovery of the electron has given us a new conception of the structure of matter.
In all cases where the discharge passes through a gas at low pressure, the negative electrode is the source of the rays.
The rays from the cathode are not due to a special kind of light, but to a stream of material particles.
The cathode rays are streams of negatively electrified particles.
Science is the pursuit of the truth.
The aim of science is to seek the simplest explanations of complex facts.
I have been so overloaded with work that I have not had time to do any work.
Contemporaries of J. J. Thomson
Other Physicss born within 50 years of J. J. Thomson (1856–1940).