Table of Contents

List of illustrations. Preface. J J Thomson and his contemporaries. Electromagnetic phenomena unravelled. Cathode rays take center stage. The English get going. Meanwhile, back in Berlin. The English keep going. From Paris to the Scottish highlands. From Liverpool to Princeton. The race for e/m. The charge and the mass. Leiden, 1896. The photoelectric effect revisited. The Beta particle. Evanescent rays: A French cottage industry. Positive rays. The electronic charge revisited, and one more controversy. Dawning of the atomic age. Epilogue: The next twenty years. List of abbreviations. Notes. Bibliography. Name index. Subject index.

About the Author

Dahl, Per F

Reviews

"The author....writes in a lively, engaging manner that captures the reader's attention....a useful and important book to commemorate Thomson's discovery." History of Physics Newsletter (a forum of the American Physical Society) ..."the hero of the book is thomson and his wonderful insight into the negative character of the atom through glow discharge studies. The story of this fundamental aspect of nature and its significance through the incredible revolution in electrical technology is told in a compelling and gripping manner. Dahl has done a fine job in balancing the phyiscs of the story with the history of the protagonists to give science a 'human face'." thor....writes in a lively, engaging manner that captures the reader's attention....a useful and important book to commemorate Thomson's discovery." History of Physics Newsletter (a forum of the American Physical Society) ..."the hero of the book is thomson and his wonderful insight into the negative character of the atom through glow discharge studies. The story of this fundamental aspect of nature and its significance through the incredible revolution in electrical technology is told in a compelling and gripping manner. Dahl has done a fine job in balancing the phyiscs of the story with the history of the protagonists to give science a 'human face'."