J. J. Thompson was born in Menchester in 1856. His father was a bookseller and

publisher. Thompson was Cavendish

Professor of experimental physics,

Cambridge University from 1894 - 1919. He was described as humble, devout,

generous, a good conversationalist and had an uncanny memory. He valued and inspired enthusiasm in his students.

Thompson was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics for his investigations of the

passage of electricity through gases. In 1897, he discovered the electron through his work on cathode rays.

Thompson´s son, Sir George Paget, shared the Nobel Prize for physics with C.J.Davisson in 1937. Seven of Thompson´s

trainees were also awarded Nobel Prizes.

J.J. Thompson is buried in Wesminster

Abbey close to some of the World´s greatest  scientists, Newton, Kelvin, Darwin, Hershel and Rutherford.

1856 - 1940

Sir Joseph John