A history of the electron with no holes

Somewhat for convenience, the simplistic answer to the question 'who discovered the electron, and when?' is usually given as 'J J Thomson, in 1897'. Of course, there were many other physicists studying the electron at the turn of the 20th century, as we are amply reminded in Histories of the Electron: The Birth of Microphysics. The volume addresses the 'discovery' of the electron, and the microphysical world that it ushered in. It also tackles a host of associated issues, from the technical to the epistemological. To sort it all out, the editors - Jed Buchwald and Andrew Warwick - have enlisted no fewer than 19 expert contributors, and we are not disappointed in the work at hand. Somewhat heavy in places for historians and general readers with less than a first-rate background in physics or philosophy, the volume is nevertheless crammed with an impressive amount of material on the discovery of the electron and its intellectual impact on human affairs. (U.K.)