Cracks Appear in Classical Physics

As the end of the nineteenth century approached, physicists were justifiably proud of their science. It seemed that they had found the theories necessary to explain all physical phenomena. On Friday, April 30, 1897, a couple of years after Planck commenced his studies at the University of Berlin, the great British physicist, Sir Joseph John Thomson (1856 – 1940), announced to the regular evening meeting of the Royal Institute that he had discovered a particle smaller than an atom. Considering the fact that the very existence of atoms was still a controversial topic, this announcement was such a fantastic event that one of the prominent colleagues present thought it was a hoax. JJ, as Thomson was known, was not surprised at that reaction since he himself had found his discovery difficult to accept…