"The Diffraction of Cathode Rays by Thin Films of Platinum." in Nature. **Nobel Prize (1937) Effort by Thomson**

Thomson, George Paget.

Published by Macmillan & Co., London, 1927

About this Item

Thomson, George Paget. "The Diffraction of Cathode Rays by Thin Films of Platinum." in Nature, Vol. 120, No. 3031, December 3, 1927, p. 802 ("Letters to the Editor") in the issue of pp 793-828. Offered in the original wrappers. VG, solid copy. ".idea of a wave theory of the electron based on de Broglie s theory was discussed, and Thomson, already deeply interested in de Broglie s work himself, saw how his work with positive rays might be adapted to test the idea. Reasoning that the effect should be easier to analyze with a solid than with a gaseous target, and that some of the positive ray apparatus at Aberdeen could be readily adapted for such an experiment, he asked Alexander Reid to look at the scattering of electrons through thin celluloid films (3.10−6 cms) onto photographic plates. The result was clear pictures of halos much as one would expect from a diffraction effect, and in a joint paper with Reid, published in May 1927, Thomson wrote of celluloid as a diffracting system and of the electrons as having wavelengths given by de Broglie s theory. Since the structure of celluloid was unknown, the experiment was not conclusive. So Thomson next turned to metallic films of the same thickness, for which the crystal structure was known, and repeated the experiment for scattering from aluminum, gold, and platinum. He found that the dimensions of the observed diffraction patterns agreed in all cases, to within 5 percent, with those predicted by de Broglie s wave theory of matter. These results were published in brief in December 1927 [the paper offered here] and in detail two months later." [++] Sir George Paget Thomson was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1937 with Clinton Davisson, "for their experimental discovery of the diffraction of electrons by crystals." This December paper is certainly part of Thomson's Nobel Prize effort. [And btw J.J. And George Paget Thomson are one of two pairs of father/son Nobelists along with William and Lawrence Bragg; the only mother/daughter pair was Marie and Irene Joliot-Curie.].

Seller Inventory # ABE-1685455107358

Bibliographic Details

• Title: "The Diffraction of Cathode Rays by Thin Films of Platinum." in Nature. **Nobel Prize (1937) Effort by Thomson**
• Publisher: Macmillan & Co., London
• Publication Date: 1927
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Physics