Thomson credea că electronii au apărut din atomii de gaz din interiorul tubului său catodic . El a concluzionat astfel că atomii sunt divizibili, iar electronii sunt componentele lor.
În 1904, Thomson a propus un model al atomului, cu ipoteza că este o sferă de materie pozitivă în care forțele electrostatice determină poziționarea electronilor. Pentru a explica încărcătura electrică neutră generală a atomului, el a propus că electronii sunt distribuiți într-o “mare” uniformă de sarcină pozitivă. În acest model de “budincă de prune”, electronii au fost observați ca încorporați în sarcina pozitivă cum sunt prunele într-o budincă de prune (deși în modelul Thomson, ei nu sunt staționari, dar orbitează rapid).
În 1881 a introdus ipoteza masei electromagnetice pentru particulele electrizate.[36]
E. Șpolschi, Fizica atomică, vol 1, Editura Tehnică, 1952, p.33
1883. A Treatise on the Motion of Vortex Rings: An essay to which the Adams Prize was adjudged in 1882, in the University of Cambridge. London: Macmillan and Co., pp.146. Recent reprint: ISBN: 0-543-95696-2.
1888. Applications of Dynamics to Physics and Chemistry. London: Macmillan and Co., pp.326. Recent reprint: ISBN: 1-4021-8397-6.
1893. Notes on recent researches in electricity and magnetism: intended as a sequel to Professor Clerk-Maxwell's 'Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism'. Oxford University Press, pp.xvi and 578. 1991, Cornell University Monograph: ISBN: 1-4297-4053-1.
1921 (1895). Elements Of The Mathematical Theory Of Electricity And Magnetism. London: Macmillan and Co. Scan of 1895 edition.
A Text book of Physics in Five Volumes, co-authored with J.H. Poynting: (1) Properties of Matter, (2) Sound, (3) Heat, (4) Light, and (5) Electricity and Magnetism. Dated 1901 and later, and with revised later editions.
Dahl, Per F., "Flash of the Cathode Rays: A History of J.J. Thomson's Electron". Institute of Physics Publishing. June 1997. ISBN: 0-7503-0453-7
J.J. Thomson (1897) "Cathode Rays", The Electrician 39, 104, also published in Proceedings of the Royal Institution 30 April 1897, 1–14—first announcement of the "corpuscle" (before the classic mass and charge experiment)
J.J. Thomson (1897), Cathode rays, Philosophical Magazine, 44, 293—The classic measurement of the electron mass and charge
J.J. Thomson (1912), "Further experiments on positive rays" Philosophical Magazine, 24, 209–253—first announcement of the two neon parabolae
J.J. Thomson (1913), Rays of positive electricity, Proceedings of the Royal Society, A 89, 1–20—Discovery of neon isotopes
J.J. Thomson (1904), "On the Structure of the Atom: an Investigation of the Stability and Periods of Oscillation of a number of Corpuscles arranged at equal intervals around the Circumference of a Circle; with Application of the Results to the Theory of Atomic Structure," Philosophical Magazine Series 6, Volume 7, Number 39, pp. 237–265. This paper presents the classical "plum pudding model" from which the Thomson Problem is posed.
J.J. Thomson (1923), The Electron in Chemistry: Being Five Lectures Delivered at the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia.
Thomson, Sir J. J. (1936), Recollections and Reflections, London: G. Bell & Sons, Ltd. Republished as digital edition, Cambridge: University Press, 2011 (Cambridge Library Collection series).
Thomson, George Paget. (1964) J.J. Thomson: Discoverer of the Electron. Great Britain: Thomas Nelson & Sons, Ltd.
Davis, Eward Arthur & Falconer, Isobel (1997), J.J. Thomson and the Discovery of the Electron. ISBN: 978-0-7484-0696-8
Falconer, Isobel (1988) "J.J. Thomson's Work on Positive Rays, 1906–1914" Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences 18(2) 265–310
Falconer, Isobel (2001) "Corpuscles to Electrons" in J Buchwald and A Warwick (eds) Histories of the Electron, Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, pp.77–100.
Navarro, Jaume (). „J. J. Thomson on the Nature of Matter: Corpuscles and the Continuum”. Centaurus. 47 (4): 259–282. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0498.2005.00028.x.
Downard, Kevin M. (). „J. J. Thomson goes to America”. Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. 20 (11): 1964–1973. doi:10.1016/j.jasms.2009.07.008. PMID19734055.
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