Cavendish Professor of Physics the university regulations which allowed students who had not studied at Cambridge to receive a B.A. by submitting a thesis which was judged "of distinction as a record of original research." Among the students attracted by this change was future Cavendish Professor Ernest Rutherford. Whilst Thomson was Cavendish Professor, he discovered the electron and the existence of isotopes, and also fostered an atmosphere of friendliness and mutual helpfulness. Rutherford returned to Cambridge in 1918, and spent the last 19 years of his life there. This was around the time of the change from classical to modern physics, and Rutherford was
Blackett Laboratory Blackett Laboratory The Blackett Laboratory (named after Patrick Blackett) is part of the Imperial College Faculty of Natural Sciences and has housed the Department of Physics at Imperial College London since its completion in 1961. The building is located on the corner of Prince Consort Road and Queen's Gate, Kensington, and the department ranks 11th on QS's 2018 world university rankings. The Physics facility at Imperial College London was initially in the Royal College of Science, built in 1906, which also housed the Chemistry Department. From 1906 to 1932 the head of the Physics Department was Prof. H. L. Callender,