author
William Crookes
1832–1919
A pioneering Victorian scientist, he helped open the way to modern physics through work on spectroscopy, vacuum tubes, and cathode rays. He is especially remembered for discovering thallium and for inventing instruments such as the Crookes radiometer.
1 Audiobook
Diamonds
by William Crookes
About the author
Born in London in 1832, William Crookes trained at the Royal College of Chemistry and built a career that crossed chemistry, physics, and scientific journalism. He became widely known in 1861 for identifying the element thallium through spectroscopy, a method that was then transforming how scientists studied matter.
Crookes went on to investigate electrical discharges in low-pressure gases, developing the Crookes tube and carrying out experiments that became part of the story leading toward atomic physics and the later discovery of the electron. He also invented the radiometer, the light-driven instrument often called the Crookes radiometer, and his research ranged across radiation, rare earths, and laboratory instrumentation.
Beyond the laboratory, he edited important scientific periodicals and became one of Britain's best-known men of science. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1863, later served as its president, and was knighted for his contributions before his death in 1919.