... some of their more obvious discoveries (namely the achievements for which they were awarded Nobel Prize's). The electron is one of the most fundamental particles of the atom, but before Thomson's extensive experimentation with cathode rays proved or at least strongly suggested the existence of his so-called "corpuscles", the thought of a particle smaller than an atom was almost ludicrous. But the evidence was there: the results of the cathode ray tube experiments supported his theory that cathode rays were really streams of miniscule pieces of atoms. He came to this conclusion by performing three famous experiments, which he summarised during an evening lecture to the Royal Institution on Friday, April 30, 1897. The first experiment was a variation of Jean Perrin's 1985 experiment which had deduced that cathode rays carry an electrical charge; Thomson set up a cathode ray tube ending with a pair of metal cylinders which, essentially, were ...

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