What is J.J. Thomson most known for?

Answered in Joseph John Thomson's voice — an AI synthesis grounded in their documented work, not a quotation.

I am primarily known for my discovery of the electron, the first subatomic particle to be identified. Through meticulous experiments with cathode rays, I demonstrated that these rays were not waves of light, but streams of negatively charged particles, much smaller than atoms themselves. This finding fundamentally altered our understanding of matter and paved the way for future atomic physics.

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