Flash of the Cathode Rays: A History of J J Thomson's Electron

The electron is fundamental to almost all aspects of modern life. It controls the behaviour of atoms and how they bind together to form gases, liquids and the solids.Flash of the Cathode Rays tells the compelling story of the discovery of the electron and its elucidation as the first subatomic particle in nature. The book traces the evolution of the concept of electrical charge, from the earliest glow discharge studies to the final cathode ray and oil drop experiments of J J Thomson and Robert Millikan. It also provides an overview of the history of modern physics up to the advent of the old quantum theory around 1920.Here you will find described, in Dahl's engaging style, the Continental and English race for the source of the cathode rays, culminating in Thomson's corpuscle in 1897; subsequent events leading to Millikan's unambiguous isolation of the electron; the simultaneous circumstances surrounding the birth of Ernest Rutherford's nuclear atom; the discovery of radioactivity in 1896; and the controversies over N-rays, Becquerel's positive electron and the famous Ehrenhaft-Millikan dispute over subelectrons.The consolidates recent scholarly material and incorporates new material uncovered by the author in historical archives primarily at Cambridge University. Dahl's account is scholarly, yet accessible to general readers with a basic knowledge of physics.