Joseph John Thomson (1856-1940)
The Human Face of Science: Mini-Exhibits
More favorite photos, with quotes, of famous scientists.
Visit our Exhibit: 
Discovery of the Electron
Photo A3; portrait.
CREDIT: AIP Emilio Segrè
Visual Archives,
Physics Today Collection.
As professor at Cambridge, Thomson helped introduce laboratory demonstration work to the curriculum, which had been strictly mathematical. "We found many cases," he recalled, "where men could solve the most complicated problems about lenses, yet when given a lens and asked to find the image of a candle flame, would not know on which side of the lens to look for the image. But perhaps the most interesting point was their intense surprise when any mathematical formula gave the right result." (From Thomson's Recollections and Reflections)
"J.J." (as he was called) had a boundless, infectious enthusiasm for any physical effect that turned up in the laboratory. He could not wait to start puzzling over it. Negatives of cloud chamber photographs had to be hidden from him when they were taken, for fear he would damage the image by handling the plate while it was still wet.
Photo Langmuir C4;
Irving Langmuir, Thomson, and
William David Coolidge
during Thomson's 1923 visit
to the G.E. Research Lab.
CREDIT: General Electric Research
& Development Center,
courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives.
Search for More Joseph John Thomson Photos