PHYSICIST

J. J. Thomson

1856 - 1940

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Sir Joseph John Thomson (18 December 1856 – 30 August 1940) was a British physicist and Nobel Laureate in Physics, credited with the discovery of the electron, the first subatomic particle to be found. In 1897, Thomson showed that cathode rays were composed of previously unknown negatively charged particles (now called electrons), which he calculated must have bodies much smaller than atoms and a very large charge-to-mass ratio. Thomson is also credited with finding the first evidence for isotopes of a stable (non-radioactive) element in 1913, as part of his exploration into the composition of canal rays (positive ions). Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of J. J. Thomson has received more than 3,937,514 page views. His biography is available in 104 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 99 in 2019). J. J. Thomson is the 44th most popular physicist (down from 40th in 2019), the 119th most popular biography from United Kingdom (up from 137th in 2019) and the 8th most popular British Physicist.

J. J. Thomson was a British physicist who discovered the electron. He also discovered the first subatomic particle, the proton.

Memorability Metrics

  • 3.9M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 73.42

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 104

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 7.07

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 5.82

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among PHYSICISTS

Among physicists, J. J. Thomson ranks 44 out of 851. Before him are Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, Wolfgang Pauli, Lise Meitner, Gerard 't Hooft, Max von Laue, and Pieter Zeeman. After him are Philipp Lenard, William Gilbert, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, Léon Foucault, Christian Doppler, and Barry Barish.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1856, J. J. Thomson ranks 6. Before him are Nikola Tesla, Sigmund Freud, Philippe Pétain, George Bernard Shaw, and Woodrow Wilson. After him are Louis Sullivan, Archduchess Gisela of Austria, Frederick Winslow Taylor, Napoléon, Prince Imperial, Robert Peary, and Emil Kraepelin. Among people deceased in 1940, J. J. Thomson ranks 7. Before him are Leon Trotsky, Selma Lagerlöf, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Paul Klee, Walter Benjamin, and Neville Chamberlain. After him are Mikhail Bulgakov, Robert Wadlow, Nikolai Yezhov, Carl Bosch, Peter Behrens, and Arthur Harden.

Others Born in 1856

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Others Deceased in 1940

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, J. J. Thomson ranks 119 out of 8,785. Before him are Ada Lovelace (1815), Blackbeard (1680), Neville Chamberlain (1869), Edward VIII (1894), Ringo Starr (1940), and Edward II of England (1284). After him are Bon Scott (1946), Charles I of England (1600), Rosalind Franklin (1920), George Stephenson (1781), Anne, Queen of Great Britain (1665), and Brian Johnson (1947).

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Among PHYSICISTS In United Kingdom

Among physicists born in United Kingdom, J. J. Thomson ranks 8. Before him are Stephen Hawking (1942), Michael Faraday (1791), James Prescott Joule (1818), Robert Hooke (1635), James Clerk Maxwell (1831), and Paul Dirac (1902). After him are William Gilbert (1544), William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824), Thomas Young (1773), James Chadwick (1891), C. F. Powell (1903), and Charles Glover Barkla (1877).

British born Physicists

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