Cavendish Laboratory

The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge. It began in 1874 on the New Museums Site in central Cambridge. The building was named after Henry Cavendish, a British chemist and physicist. Professor James Clerk Maxwell, who developed electromagnetic theory, became its first head. The laboratory moved to West Cambridge in the early 1970s and again in 2025 to the Ray Dolby Centre. The laboratory has shaped modern science through groundbreaking discoveries. Thirty researchers have won Nobel Prizes while working there. J.J. Thomson discovered the electron there in 1897. James Chadwick found the neutron in 1932 under Ernest Rutherford’s leadership. Francis Crick and James Watson worked there to uncover the structure of DNA in 1953. Visitors to the Ray Dolby Centre see a modern research facility in West Cambridge. The building reflects the laboratory’s long tradition of innovation. Exhibits highlight key experiments and discoveries. The surroundings include landscaped grounds and nearby university buildings. It remains a working science hub, not a museum.