The word “electron” was coined in 1894 by Irish physicist George Johnstone Stoney (1826–1911). He suggested that electrons were components of atoms and proposed the name “corpuscle” for them. In 1897, English physicist J. J. Thomson (1856–1940) discovered electrons in cathode ray experiments and proposed that they were parts of atoms as well.

Electrons are important particles in many areas of science such as electricity, magnetism, and chemistry. In fact, without electrons, there would be no chemical bonding between atoms – which means no matter as we know it! Even though they are exceedingly small particles, electrons have some interesting properties worth learning about.