CRT - Brown tube or tube of J.J. Thomson
ID: 113451
CRT - Brown tube or tube of J.J. Thomson
29.May.06 14:49
0
The term "Brown-Tube" is used internationally for the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) and very seldom people know that Brown and Thomson published their findings in the same time, 1897. Therefore I did write also about Thomson when I wrote "Radios von gestern" in the mid 80's - without internet.
Since Henk Dijkstra told me about his site dealing mainly with CRT's I posed the question to him about this matter. We also made a link exchange (the reason he wrote to me). You find his excellent site under the category "Valves and Tubes" in our link list. The name is "The Cathode Ray Tube site". This is surely a very nice focus.
My question was: "J.J. Thomson has built or used the first CRT (even with integrated plates) in 1897 - not F. Braun. But why is it the Braun-Tube?"
I think it is nice (for him and for us) to get his answer to my question here:
"You have a good point about the Braun and Thomson's tubes. In my believe and as far as I can trace information about this topic, in that days much research was done on "Radiant Matter" read cathode rays, including people like Crookes, Perrin, Lenard, Braun and Thomson.
The possibility for magnetic deflection at cathode rays was already known at that time. Braun published on the 15th of 1897 in "der annalen der Physik und Chemie" his research of time dependency of alternating currents. He build and used for this experiment the tube well known as the Braun tube, in this state it had no deflection plates but he used magnetically deflection by use of coils.
In fact this could be seen as the first oscilloscope. Braun had the opportunity to have a practical application for his tube as a cathode ray indicator.
On the other hand, JJ Thomson did his experiments on a similar way in the same time with deflection plates. I don't think there was competition in the research, everybody working in this field was interested in this new kind of rays. In that time, this kind of tubes were only been used in laboratories and at research in Universities like many other types of cathode ray tubes, the development went quick.
If you look at the old Max Kohl catalogues you can find many tubes for this kind of research. You can find also tubes with plates and coils like the drawing on my CRT page.
In my opinion if you compare Braun's tube and Thomson tube with the modern one, Thomson's tube is the winner. But the literature adopted the name "Braun's tube" as a common name for the tube we know as the CRT just because the practical use of Braun's "oscilloscope" invention, I see Thomson more like a scientist and Braun like an inventor and practical developer of instruments, which he actually did next to his work as Physics researcher. You can see the same with Zworykin and Farnsworth who both claimed to invented the first image receiving tube at nearly the same time, only Zworykin's tube developed into a practical camera tube.
Since Henk Dijkstra told me about his site dealing mainly with CRT's I posed the question to him about this matter. We also made a link exchange (the reason he wrote to me). You find his excellent site under the category "Valves and Tubes" in our link list. The name is "The Cathode Ray Tube site". This is surely a very nice focus.
My question was: "J.J. Thomson has built or used the first CRT (even with integrated plates) in 1897 - not F. Braun. But why is it the Braun-Tube?"
I think it is nice (for him and for us) to get his answer to my question here:
"You have a good point about the Braun and Thomson's tubes. In my believe and as far as I can trace information about this topic, in that days much research was done on "Radiant Matter" read cathode rays, including people like Crookes, Perrin, Lenard, Braun and Thomson.
The possibility for magnetic deflection at cathode rays was already known at that time. Braun published on the 15th of 1897 in "der annalen der Physik und Chemie" his research of time dependency of alternating currents. He build and used for this experiment the tube well known as the Braun tube, in this state it had no deflection plates but he used magnetically deflection by use of coils.
In fact this could be seen as the first oscilloscope. Braun had the opportunity to have a practical application for his tube as a cathode ray indicator.
On the other hand, JJ Thomson did his experiments on a similar way in the same time with deflection plates. I don't think there was competition in the research, everybody working in this field was interested in this new kind of rays. In that time, this kind of tubes were only been used in laboratories and at research in Universities like many other types of cathode ray tubes, the development went quick.
If you look at the old Max Kohl catalogues you can find many tubes for this kind of research. You can find also tubes with plates and coils like the drawing on my CRT page.
In my opinion if you compare Braun's tube and Thomson tube with the modern one, Thomson's tube is the winner. But the literature adopted the name "Braun's tube" as a common name for the tube we know as the CRT just because the practical use of Braun's "oscilloscope" invention, I see Thomson more like a scientist and Braun like an inventor and practical developer of instruments, which he actually did next to his work as Physics researcher. You can see the same with Zworykin and Farnsworth who both claimed to invented the first image receiving tube at nearly the same time, only Zworykin's tube developed into a practical camera tube.
To thank the Author because you find the post helpful or well done.
Naming and information on early catalogues
04.Jun.06 16:57
Paolo Brenni told us via Henk Djkstra:
"Dear Henk, certainly my answer can be reported.
I can just add that in some earlier tube and instrument catalogues (1910 circa) there is the difference between Braun (magnetic deflection) and Thomson (electrostatic deflection) tubes.
sincerely yours Paolo Brenni"
The mentioned information was:
"Dear Henk,
I think that you are right as far as the developement of the tube is concerned.
On the other hand it is unthinkable to change the name of an instrument, which for decades (or more..) was mentioned in a certain way. If we carefully study the invention /evolution of instruments, we can see that a lot of personal names associated with them are not appropriate from a stric historical point of view. But imagine the confusion if we had to change all that....nobody would know anymore what we are speaking about.
Yours Paolo Brenni "
Paolo Brenni is of the Galileo Institute of History of Science in Florence.
"Dear Henk, certainly my answer can be reported.
I can just add that in some earlier tube and instrument catalogues (1910 circa) there is the difference between Braun (magnetic deflection) and Thomson (electrostatic deflection) tubes.
sincerely yours Paolo Brenni"
The mentioned information was:
"Dear Henk,
I think that you are right as far as the developement of the tube is concerned.
On the other hand it is unthinkable to change the name of an instrument, which for decades (or more..) was mentioned in a certain way. If we carefully study the invention /evolution of instruments, we can see that a lot of personal names associated with them are not appropriate from a stric historical point of view. But imagine the confusion if we had to change all that....nobody would know anymore what we are speaking about.
Yours Paolo Brenni "
Paolo Brenni is of the Galileo Institute of History of Science in Florence.
To thank the Author because you find the post helpful or well done.