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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 discovered. 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 3,405,591 page views. His biography is available in 99 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 95 in 2019). J. J. Thomson is the 40th most popular physicist (down from 33rd in 2019), the 137th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 112th in 2019) and the 9th 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

  • 3.4M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 73.01

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 99

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 7.09

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 5.53

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

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Among PHYSICISTS

Among physicists, J. J. Thomson ranks 40 out of 717. Before him are Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, William Gilbert, Paul Dirac, Léon Foucault, Lise Meitner, and Pieter Zeeman. After him are Wolfgang Pauli, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, Ernst Mach, Andrei Sakharov, Thomas Young, and James Chadwick.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1856, J. J. Thomson ranks 6. Before him are Nikola Tesla, Sigmund Freud, George Bernard Shaw, Woodrow Wilson, and Philippe Pétain. After him are Frederick Winslow Taylor, Louis Sullivan, Archduchess Gisela of Austria, Robert Peary, Napoléon, Prince Imperial, and Emil Kraepelin. Among people deceased in 1940, J. J. Thomson ranks 8. Before him are F. Scott Fitzgerald, Selma Lagerlöf, Neville Chamberlain, Paul Klee, Mikhail Bulgakov, and Walter Benjamin. After him are Robert Wadlow, Nikolai Yezhov, Emma Goldman, Carl Bosch, Peter Behrens, and Manuel Azaña.

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 137 out of 7,765. Before him are Michael Caine (1933), Henry Purcell (1659), T. E. Lawrence (1888), Olav V of Norway (1903), George Boole (1815), and Æthelstan (895). After him are William IV of the United Kingdom (1765), John Venn (1834), Anthony Eden (1897), Rosalind Franklin (1920), John, King of England (1166), and Alfred Russel Wallace (1823).

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Among PHYSICISTS In United Kingdom

Among physicists born in United Kingdom, J. J. Thomson ranks 9. Before him are Michael Faraday (1791), Robert Hooke (1635), James Prescott Joule (1818), James Clerk Maxwell (1831), William Gilbert (1544), and Paul Dirac (1902). After him are Thomas Young (1773), James Chadwick (1891), Charles Thomson Rees Wilson (1869), Roger Penrose (1931), William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824), and John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh (1842).

British born Physicists

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