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jj b day
jj thomson was born on decmber 18 1856 near Manchester, England. His father died when "J.J." was only sixteen. The young Thomson attended Owens College in Manchester, where his professor of mathematics encouraged him to apply for a scholarship at Trinity College, one of the most prestigious of the colleges at Cambridge University. -
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scholarship
Thomson won a scholarship, in 1880 finished second in his class (behind Joseph Larmor) in the grueling graduation examination in mathematics. Trinity gave him a fellowship and he stayed on there, trying to craft mathematical models that would reveal the nature of atoms and electromagnetic forces. -
getin up in the world
The young Thomson was chosen to be the third Cavendish Professor in 1884 (following Maxwell and Lord Rayleigh). He was inexperienced in doing experiments, but he learned quickly and presided over a flourishing of experimental physics at the Cavendish. Supported by his administration and teaching, many important experiments on electromagnetism and atomic particles were performed and many outstanding physicists received their early training, including seven Nobel prize winners -
married
miss Rose Paget was among the researchers at the Cavendish as one of the first generation of women permitted into advanced university studies. She performed some experiments on soap films in 1889 after attending some of Thomson's lectures. J.J. Thomson and Rose Paget were married on January 22, 1890. They had two children: George Paget Thomson, who became a prominent physicist himself, and Joan Paget Thomson, who in later years often accompanied her father in his travels. -
atom
In 1904 Thomson suggested a model of the atom as a sphere of positive matter in which electrons are positioned by electrostatic forces -
prize
In 1906 he was awarded the Nobel prize in physics for his researches into the discharge of electricity in gases. -
master
In 1918 he was chosen Master of his old college, Trinity, and the next year he resigned the Cavendish Professorship. He guided Trinity with his usual common sense and benevolence until shortly before his death on August 30, 1940.
