Thomson refers to J.J. Thomson, a British physicist known for his discovery of the electron in 1897. His work laid the foundation for modern atomic theory and earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1906. Thomson's experiments with cathode rays demonstrated that these rays were composed of negatively charged particles, which he named electrons. In addition to his work on electrons, Thomson also proposed the plum pudding model of the atom, suggesting that atoms are made up of a positively charged "soup" with negatively charged electrons embedded within it. This model was later replaced by the more accurate nuclear model proposed by Ernest Rutherford.