Evolution of Electrons

  • 600 BCE

    Ancient Greek, Thales, discovers static electricity

  • 400 BCE

    Greek philosopher, Democritus, developed the concept of an atom

  • Benjamin Franklin uses his famous experiment with his kite and lightning to prove that static electricity and lightning are the same

  • Electromagnetism is discovered

  • Michael Faraday introduces electrolysis, a way of using electricity to separate compounds

  • James Maxwell discovered light is an electromagnetic wave

  • Maxwell - Created the electromagnetic theory - light is made of electromagnetic waves, made equations to support his theory

  • Joseph Swan + Thomas Edison invent the lightbulb

  • Crookes - Studied electrical activity and cathode rays, leading him to believe in the existence of negatively charged particles, inspiring others to study these rays more in depth

  • George Stoney first suggested the name electron for units of electricity

  • JJ Thomson experiments and confirms the existence of these electrons

  • Thomson - experimented with cathode rays to discover and prove the existence of small, negatively-charged particles, electrons - established particle level of electricity

  • Millikan - in an oil-drop experiment, he found out how to determine the magnitude of negative charge in electrons

  • Bohr - Created an atomic model where electrons orbit the nucleus

  • deBroglie - Proposed that electrons travel like a wave and not a simple circular path

  • Schrodinger - After hearing the theory that electrons travelled in waves, he proposed a wave equation to calculate the energy levels of electrons. Discovered the electron cloud.

  • Tim Lee combined electronic networks to create the Internet