The Cavendish Laboratory and the Birth of the Atomic Age

2024 marks 150 years since the founding of the Cavendish Laboratory of Experimental Physics. No one could have predicted in 1874 that Cambridge physics would give birth to the atomic age: that the electron and neutron would be discovered, and the atom itself split, on Free School Lane.

From delicate glass vessels and workbench instruments to one of the first industrial-scale particle accelerators, our new temporary exhibition traces the founding of the Laboratory and its first six decades through its apparatus. Get close up to instruments used by J.J. Thomson, Ernest Rutherford and James Clerk Maxwell, and discover the thriving community that transformed our understanding of the Universe. 

Glassblowing during the practical class at the Cavendish Laboratory.

Image courtesy of the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge.