Person Thomson; Sir; Joseph John (1856 - 1940); physicist Thomson Joseph John Sir physicist 1856 - 1940 British Male Cheetham Hill, near Manchester, Cheshire, England 18 December 1856 18561218 Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England 30/08/1940 19400830 Burial: Nave of Westminster Abbey, London, England.

Trinity College, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England (1884)

physicist Electricity Atomic physics Physics Education: Owen's College, Manchester; Trinity College, Cambridge. BA (1880) Career: Fellow and Lecturer of Trinity College, Cambridge (1883); Professor of Natural Philosophy, Royal Institution, London; Cavendish Professor of Physics, Cambridge (1884-1918); Master of Trinity College, Cambridge (1918); died after suffering from senile decay (1940). Medals and prizes: Smith's Prize 1880 Nobel Prize (Physics) 1906 Elliott Cresson Medal 1910 Albert Medal 1915 Franklin Medal 1922 Faraday Medal 1925 Dalton Medal 1931 Honours: Kt 1908; OM 1912 Parents: Joseph James Thomson (d. 1873), antiquarian bookseller, and Emma Swindells (d. 1901), of the local Vernon family. Siblings: Frederick Vernon Thomson Spouse: Rose Elzabeth, daughter of Sir George Paget (FRS 1873). Children: Sir George Paget Thomson (FRS 1930) and Joan Paget Thomson. Discovered the electron and isotopes. Coined the terms 'delta ray' and 'epsilon radiation'. Remembered for the plum pudding model (to describe atom structure); Thomson scattering; Thomson problem; the Gibbs–Thomson equation. Royal Society roles: PRS 1915-1920; VP 1911-1913 Medals and prizes: Royal Medal 1894; Hughes Medal 1902; Copley Medal 1914 Lectures: Bakerian 1887, 1913 Fellow 12/06/1884 28 Henry Enfield Roscoe William Davidson Niven Arthur Schuster Balfour Stewart William Thomson Rayleigh [John William Strutt] Edward John Routh John Couch Adams Arthur Cayley Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB Anniversary Address 1920 in Proceedings of the Royal Society A 98 1920-21 pp319-328 AssocMaterial: CSAC 74/4/80; NCUACS 91/4/00; NCUACS 117/3/03. Papers deposited in Trinity College Library, Cambridge Obituaries: Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1939-1941 vol 3 pp 587-609, plate, by Rayleigh References: George and Joan Thomson, 'J J Thomson as We Remember Him' in NR 1956-57 vol 12 pp 201-210, plate Derek J Price, 'The Cavendish Laboratory Archives' in NR 1953 vol 10 pp 139-147 C T R Wilson, 'Reminiscences of My Early Years' in NR 1959 vol 14 pp 163-173 Sir George Thomson, 'An Unfortunate Experiment: Hertz and the Nature of Cathode Rays' in NR 1970 vol 25 pp 237-242 John G Jenkin, 'The Appointment of W H Bragg, FRS, to the University of Adelaide' in NR 1985-86 vol 40 pp 75-99 S Devons, 'Rutherford and the Science of His Day' in NR 1991 vol 45 pp 221-242 Gordon Squires, 'A History of the Electron', review of Per F. Dahl, Flash of the Cathode Rays: A History of J J Thomson's Electron in NR 1999 vol 53 pp 176-177 Sir Brian Pippard, 'Stumbling Towards the Light', review of E A Davis and I J Falconer, J J Thomson and the Discovery of the Electron in NR 1999 vol 53 pp 375-376 R W Home, 'The Royal Society and the Empire: the colonial and Commonwealth Fellowship. Part 2. After 1847' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 47-84 P Harper, 'Preserving scientific archives: the work of NCUACS' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 227-232 Thomson J, IM004554.jpg ©The Royal Society International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbm.1941.0024 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorRaw=Thomson%2C+Joseph+John RCN 21878 RCN 21879 RCN 21880 https://pictures.royalsociety.org/results?mi_search_type=adv&mi_adv_search=yes&adv_person_id=AUTH8418 18 Dec 1856 - 30 Aug 1940 The past Fellows entries are under continuous revision. If you have queries or additional information to contribute, please contact Library@royalsociety.org. Content in external sources is not controlled by the Royal Society and historical sources may include content that is now unacceptable. Reviewed on 23/10/2024 as part of the Name Authority Project update. NA8288 21/11/2001 Andyg Martind 02/04/2026 RS_NET\VirginiaM Yes http://viaf.org/viaf/7472229 f9a91c8d-a1f7-43d2-a9ab-6e24fdc5d6f0