Abstract
IN trying to assess the influence of J. J. Thomson upon the development of physics in Great Britain, two things stand out. The first of these was the completeness with which the important physics posts in the universities of this country and the dominions (and many abroad as well) in Government service, and in industry were filled by men whom he had trained. The record of research students working in the Cavendish Laboratory illustrates this in a striking way. The group of seven students in 1897 includes C. T. R. Wilson, J. S. Townsend and E. Ruther-ford. To select some names from the years which follow, there are McClelland, Langevin, Zeleny, R. S. Willows, H. A. Wilson, McLennan, R. J. Strutt (Lord Rayleigh), Barkla, O. W. Richardson, Horton, N. R. Campbell, Duane, Bumpstead, Laby, Kaye, Crowther, Vegard, G. I. Taylor, Thirkill, Whiddington, C. S. Wright, Aston, W. Wilson, E. A. Owen, T. L. Eckersley, Andrade, Norman Shaw, James, Applet on. The last pre-War group in 1914 includes his son, G. P. Thomson. The number of well-known names in this list is a witness to his achievement of making the Cavendish the most famous physics laboratory in the world.
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BRAGG, W. Sir J. J. Thomson, O.M., F.R.S. Nature 146, 354 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/146354a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/146354a0