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This Section documents aspects of Thomson's education at the Perse School and Trinity College, Cambridge, and his early research conducted at the Cavendish Laboratory under the direction of his father immediately before and after the First World War.

The material is presented as follows:
B.1 - B.10 School notebooks 1905-10
The earliest of these dates from Thomson's first year at the Perse School, Cambridge, and the subjects covered include English literature and the classics as well as science and mathematics. During his last year at school he attended A. Wood's lectures at Cambridge University, and his notes on these appear at B.5 - B.7.

B.11 - B.31 Cambridge University. Undergraduate notebooks and early research 1910-14
The majority of these contain notes on lectures attended by Thomson during this period, including some by his father (B.26, B.27, B.30).
Item B.31 documents Thomson's first research at the Cavendish Laboratory, where he began work on positive rays under his father's direction in the summer of 1913, to be interrupted a year later by the outbreak of war.

B.32 - B.39 Research in Cambridge 1919-22
After the First World War Thomson returned to the Cavendish to resume the work on positive rays, turning later to anode rays with which he discovered, simultaneously with F.W. Aston, that lithium comprises two isotopes of masses 6 and 7.
The notebooks continue to May 1922, after which Thomson accepted an appointment as Professor of Natural Philosophy at Aberdeen University.

Many of Thomson's notebooks were re-used at different periods of his life; sometimes the old pages were torn out, sometimes he restarted from the back of the book. Occasionally a single notebook contains very diverse material, such as B.2 (school exercises at one end and personal accounts for 1924-26 at the other) and E.60 (school exercises followed by notes on thermonuclear research).

This series consists of notebooks and lecture notes kept at three different institutions: Accrington Grammar School (B.1-22), The Victoria University of Manchester (B.23-54), and Trinity College, Cambridge (B.55-92).

With one exception, the notebooks from Accrington Grammar School (B.1-22) contain Davenport's notes and diagrams on physics, chemistry and mathematics, presumably work for the School Certificate (B.1-2) and the Higher School Certificate (B.3-17), although several are undated. Only B.22 shows Davenport's non-mathematical interests, containing extracts from various writers and drafts of two speeches, possibly delivered to a school debating society.

The notebooks and lecture notes from the Victoria University of Manchester (B.23-54) date from 1924-1927. B.23-30 are hardback notebooks arranged by the covering titles with which Davenport labelled them. Only two, B.24 and B.29, can be dated (1924-1925 and 1925-1926 respectively). None are indexed and only two are paginated (B.29-30). B.31-54 are loose ms. pages of notes on the literature, notes on lecture courses and class work and exercises by Davenport. Many bear an indication of the course number, or of the person giving the lectures and/or supervising the work. The material was kept in bulky wallet folders labelled by Davenport; the contents have been removed and where appropriate preserved in more than one folder for ease of reference. The original folders are at B.54. See B.85-87 for notes originally made at Manchester and subsequently used at Cambridge.

The notebooks and lecture notes from Trinity College, Cambridge (B.55-92) date from 1927-32. B.55-B.64 are hardback notebooks, and excepting B.63-64, all contain lecture notes. Davenport usually labelled the fly-leaves with the name of the lecturer, the subject of the course, and the date. These labels are used as titles here, and his descriptions are preserved in the entries. B.63 and B.64 are exceptions as they are without identification, but it is probable that they come from this period in Davenport's career. B.65-92 are loose ms. pages of notes, chiefly of lectures attended by Davenport. Usually they bear the name of the lecturer and the title of the course, and some are dated. The material was kept in wallet folders labelled by Davenport; the contents have been removed and, where appropriate, preserved in more than one folder for ease of reference. The original folders are at B.89.

The paucity of material in this Section is regretted. It derives in part from Taylor's idiosyncratic working methods which led him to make random jottings on any piece of paper that came to hand; the folder in B.3 is characteristic, and many of the letters, committee papers and other documents in the collection bear notes, drawings and calculations of this kind. Even so, it is probable that many other notebooks have not survived.

All items are manuscript.

Material for Gaskell's book published in Oxford by the Clarendon Press, 1978, organised by Gaskell into folders mirroring the chapters in the book: introduction and theory, Harington, Milton, Richardson, Swift, Scott, Tennyson, Dickens, Thackeray, Hawthorne, Hardy, Joyce, Stoppard, and photographs.

The Works are listed in order of first production, or date of writing if not produced, with all associated correspondence, writings, printed material gathered under the title. The correspondence in this series has been listed, if not fully catalogued, and is arranged in date order. Materials are still being catalogued, and will be added when this complete.

After graduating in pure and applied mathematics from Melbourne University, Batchelor planned to study for a PhD at Cambridge, but the outbreak of WWII forced him to remain in Australia, where he undertook research on aeronautics. With encouragement from G I Taylor Batchelor sailed for England in January 1945 and was admitted a Research Student at Trinity College later that year. This section includes material from his time at Melbourne as well as early attempts to find funding for his researches.

The material in this section is arranged as follows:

B/1-B/679: Correspondence and papers, 1836-1952. Family and personal correspondence of Sir J. J. Thomson is at B/1-B/44. At B/45-B/639, the bulk of this section, is the correspondence and papers of Thomson's wife Rose Elizabeth, Lady Thomson (née Paget): most of this is incoming correspondence from family members and friends; there are also notebooks and diaries at B/570-B/594, correspondence from and material relating to societies, organisations, and appeals at B/595-B/635, and miscellaneous material at B/636-B/639.

There is also family and personal correspondence of other family members including their son George Paget Thomson, B/640-656, and daughter Joan Paget Thomson, B/657-B/658. The correspondence between family members is arranged by recipient, thus letters from J. J. Thomson to his wife are to be found in the incoming correspondence of Rose Thomson at B/45-B/53 rather than in the family correspondence of Thomson himself (B/1-B/6).

B/680-B/688: Photographs, 1917-1925

B/689-B/719: Accounts, 1888-1951. This material consists chiefly of Thomson household accounts, which were kept by Lady Thomson, and have been arranged, in chronological order.

B/720-B/731: Miscellaneous, 1918-1944

The material is principally Adams's undated ms drafts, notes and calculations documenting his research from the 1950s until his death. It was found in Adams's own folders with titles inscribed thereon.

These titles have been reproduced in the catalogue entries and form the basis for the arrangement of the material in an alphabetical sequence. At the end of this sequence is miscellaneous research material including 'work done' and 'work in progress'. The contents of bulky folders have been subdivided for ease of reference.

The material includes correspondence and papers relating to Synge's appointment at the Lister Institute including his statement of proposed work, inventories of equipment and chemicals, and miscellaneous administrative material. B/7-B/13 comprise papers relating to Synge's visit to Tiselius's laboratory, and travels in Sweden and Norway, in 1946-1947: equipment, chemicals etc required and expenses of the visit.

Thirty-seven diaries dated 1913, 1925-1928, 1930-1943, 1945-1950, 1952-1957, 1959-1963. There are two for 1963.

This series consists of notebooks, laboratory notes, observations and working papers, drafts for publications, and correspondence. The material is arranged into ten subseries indicating the locations of the various laboratories, institutions and universities at which Frisch worked, in chronological order: Vienna; Berlin; Hamburg; Birkbeck College, London; Copenhagen; Birmingham; Liverpool; Los Alamos; Harwell; and Cambridge. A supplemental subseries has been added consisting of papers given by Ulla Frisch after the main body of papers.

Several of the diaries and notebooks in A.8-32 also contain some scientific information and should be consulted as supplementary sources.

The first two subseries are small: Vienna, B.1-2 and Berlin, B.3-7. For material concerning Frisch's appointment at Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt (PTR), see A.46, Correspondence and papers re arrangements to work with C. Müller.

The third subseries, Hamburg, B.8-42, dates from Frisch's work as assistant to Otto Stern (see What little I remember, pp. 41-56). See F. 123 for Stern's acknowledgement of Frisch's contribution to the work on molecular beams. The outgoing correspondence in B.39 - B.42, as well as B.73 - B.81 dates from 1930 - July 1939. These letters follow Frisch's own chronological order and includes personal and family as well as scientific letters.

The fourth subseries, Birkbeck College, London, B.43 consists of correspondence from 1943.

The fifth subseries, Copenhagen, B.44-94 dates from Frisch's work at the Institute of Theoretical Physics, directed by Niels Bohr (see What little I remember, pp. 81-119). The letters at B.73-81 are, like B.39-42, Frisch's carbons, in date order, of his outgoing letters both personal and scientific. The item numbers 83-94 in this subseries have not been allocated, and do not represent missing items. See also B.208, part of the supplemental papers supplied by Ulla Frisch.

Birmingham, B.95-104, is comprised almost entirely of correspondence. These are almost wholly concerned with research projects. Unlike the previous correspondence files, they may include both incoming and outgoing letters. For personal material relating to Frisch's appointment at Birmingham, departure from Copenhagen and settlement in Britain, see A.11, A.48-53. See also B.209-221, part of the supplemental papers supplied by Ulla Frisch.

Liverpool, B.105-131, includes research reports on nuclear projects, B.109-116, and correspondence, B.117-131, which are almost wholly concerned with research projects, and include incoming and outgoing letters. For material relating to Frisch's appointment at Liverpool, see A.55.

Virtually no material survives for Los Alamos, B.132-136A, because of the strict security restrictions enforced on all personnel. For personal material relating to Frisch's service at Los Alamos, see A.58-63 and also A.12-15. The subseries does include a letter from Louis, identified as Louis Slotin by Sir Rudolf Peierls, written a month before Slotin's fatal accident (B.136A).

The ninth subseries is Harwell, B.137-142. For personal material relating to Frisch's period at Harwell, see A.64, A.65. See also B.222, part of the supplemental papers supplied by Ulla Frisch.

The subseries Cambridge, B.143-B.207, is divided into materials relating to the Cavendish Laboratory (B.143-183) and Frisch's company Laser Scan Limited, B.184-207. The Cavendish Laboratory is further subdivided into Notebooks and research notes, B.143-152, Lectures, B.153.175, and Correspondence, B.176-183. The lectures are arranged in chronological order as far as possible. The majority are graduate and undergraduate lectures given at Cambridge University, but see B.167-169 for lectures as visiting scientist at CERN 1967. Almost all the work is in Frisch's hand and is rarely written up as a narrative. The Laser Scan Limited materials are further subdivided into Notebooks and research notes, B.184-196, Publications and manuals, B.197-200, and Correspondence, B.201-207. The Notebooks and research notes include Frisch's later miscellaneous projects related to the company, as well as the original SWEEPNIK material. There are also some SWEEPNIK notes in B.143, 'ORF 18', hard-cover notebook. The correspondence includes Frisch's folder of material relating to the history of Laser Scan (B.201-205), with notes, drawings, and correspondence. See also B.223-224, part of the supplemental papers supplied by Ulla Frisch.

The last subseries, B.208-224, consists of supplemental material given by Ulla Frisch after the main body of papers arrived. These documents relate to nuclear fission in the first half of 1939: correspondence between Frisch and Lise Meitner, correspondence between Frisch and Niels Bohr, two drafts of Bohr's paper on the disintegration of heavy nuclei and correspondence between Frisch and Nature.

This series contains Sir Anthony's professional appointment diaries at the Bland-Sutton Institute at the Middlesex Hospital, the Department of Pathology at the University of Bristol, the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine at the University of Oxford, and Wolfson College, Oxford. Sub-series B/5 is a collection of shorthand notebooks from 1981–1988.

The additional manuscript series are artificial groups containing manuscripts from various sources. Most of the contents are single items or small groups, but they include some fairly large personal archives, either arranged in sequence or scattered in various places. See the overview of the collections (https://archives.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php/overview).