Herbert Edmeston Watson (1886-1980) was born on 17 May 1886, and educated at Marlborough College and in London, Berlin, Geneva and Cambridge. He worked at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, as assistant professor, 1911-1916, and Professor of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, 1916-1934. He was Professor of Chemical Engineering, University College London, 1934-1951, and Emeritus Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of London. Watson invented the neon glow lamp in 1911. He died on 24 September 1980.
Joseph John Thomson (1856-1940), physicist, was born at Cheetham Hill, near Manchester, on 18 December 1856. He attended Owens College, Manchester, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was elected a Fellow in 1881, and was Master, 1918-1940. He was Cavendish Professor of Experimental Physics, Cambridge, 1894-1919, and Professor of Natural Philosophy at the Royal Institution, 1905-1920. Thomson was responsible for the discovery of the electron. He was knighted in 1908, and died in Cambridge on 30 August 1940.
From the guide to the Herbert Watson: Notes on J.J. Thomson's lectures, 1910-1911, (Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives)
