Probashi- Science
Probashi- Science
JJ Thomson And His Nobel Prize Factory record of new scientific discovery in one laboratory as that which happened under JJ ’ s leadership of the Cavendish laboratory from 1884‐ 1919 . It can claim to be the first real school of physics in modern sense and in his time it was generally regarded as the leading experimental laboratory of physics in the scientific world .
The most famous of JJ ’ s student is Ernst Rutherford credited with the discovery of the structure of atom and for suggesting the existence of Neutron amongst others . Rutherford was born in New Zealand . He had a burning desire to work under JJ and in college had read everything that JJ had published . As luck would have it , under JJ ’ s initiative in 1885 Cambridge relaxed its rules and allowed promising students without a basic Cambridge degree to do research at Cavendish . Rutherford was amongst the first batch of overseas students to work at Cavendish . Here in initial days Rutherford faced extreme hostility from the conservative sections at the Cavendish . It was however JJ ’ s encouragement that kept Rutherford focused and under JJ ’ s supervision the young student started research into X‐Rays . Rutherford immediately distinguished himself and went on to win the 1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry . In 1919 Rutherford succeeded his teacher JJ Thomson to the Chair of the Cavendish Professor – an honour indeed . Incidentally the teacher‐ student duo is buried at Westminster Abbey in London adjacent to the tomb of Isaac Newton , another Cambridge genius .
JJ was always on the lookout for talent and would personally persuade promising students to join Cavendish . One such brilliant researcher was Francis William Aston who on invite of JJ left University of Birmingham for Cavendish to work under JJ Thomson on Anode Rays . Together Thomson and Aston developed the Mass Spectrometer , standard research equipment in Physics . Midway Thompson turned on the entire work of the collaboration to Aston which the student diligently pursued which lead to the discovery of the first isotopes of stable element . Aston was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1922 .
Charles Thomson Wilson another of JJ Thomson ’ s student when standing on the summit of Ben Nevis ( highest mountain in Scotland ) was enamoured by the clouds and was immediately ceased with the idea of making clouds in the laboratory . Wilson ’ s thesis advisor JJ Thomson would give even the most bizarre idea a chance if the student showed sufficient enthusiasm . The investigations lead ultimately to the development of the cloud chamber , an extraordinary equipment , which allowed tracking of each individual sub atomic particles on a photographic plate . Cloud chamber made possible some of the biggest discoveries in particle physics including discovery of Positrons (+ tively charged electrons ). Wilson picked up the 1927 Nobel Prize .
On November 11 , 1912 , a paper composed by a 22‐year‐old graduate student and read by his research supervisor to the Cambridge Philosophical Society turned out to be one of the most influential ever published by that august society in its 193‐year old history . The student in question is
Australian‐born William Lawrence Bragg ; his supervisor J . J . Thomson . The paper discussed the new technique of X‐ray crystallographic analysis and three years later in 1915 earned for the author , then just 25 , the Nobel Prize in Physics‐ the youngest recipient ever .
Charles Glover Barkla the recipient of the 1917 Physics Nobel prize for research in X Rays was at complete awe of his thesis supervisor JJ Thomson . Barkla commented of his student days ' I felt that the papers that I wrote were for him ( JJ ) to read : the appreciation from others was of quite secondary importance . His ( JJ ) interest and his publications on and around the subject were then my greatest inspiration '. It is this respect that JJ could command from his students inspired them to make some of mankind ’ s greatest breakthroughs in science .
The Richardson Formula which every physicist working on thermionic effects swears by was propounded by JJ ’ s research student OW Richardson which earned him the Nobel Prize in 1928 . JJ ’ s last student , to get the Nobel was Edward Appelton who received the Prize in 1947 for discovery of an unknown region in the ionosphere and his work on radio transmission .
Sir Isaac Newton from the same almamater , Cambridge University , as JJ Thomson and his students , said‐ “ If I have seen further than others , it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants .” Same would hold for JJ ’ s students . For JJ was a scientific giant of his time albeit gentle and humane and helped his students discover the big idea behind the small particles .
Researched and written by the Probashi Editorial Team coordinated by Sudipto Sengupta