The British physicist, famous for his discovery of the electron, was born in Cheetham, near Manchester, on December 18, 1856. He first entered Owens College (later Manchester University) at the early age of fourteen. In 1876 Thomson won a scholarship in Mathematics to Trinity College, Cambridge, and remained a member of the College for the rest of his life. He became a Fellow in 1880, Lecturer in 1883 and Master in 1918, a position he held with great flair until his death on August 30, 1940.

Thomson met Rose Paget in 1889 when, as one of the first women to be allowed to conduct advanced work at Cambridge, she attended some of his lectures. They married on January 22, 1890, and had two children: a son, George, and a daughter, Joan. The marriage was a long and happy one.

Many were surprised when, at the end of 1884, Thomson was appointed Cavendish Professor of...