- J. J. Thomson and The Electron: 1897–1899: An Introduction (PDF)
This being the 100th anniversary of J. J. Thomson’s discovery of the electron, the October 1897 paper in which he presented his case that cathode rays are streams of subatomic “corpuscles” is attracting a great deal of attention. Viewed from 100 years later, this paper stands out as the starting point for the research into the structure of the atom that has dominated 20th-century science.