British physicist who pioneered in the study of electrical conduction in gases and made the first direct measurement of the unit electrical charge (e).

In 1895 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, becoming a research student at the Cavendish Laboratory under J.J. Thomson. In 1899 he became a fellow of Trinity College and the following year was appointed the first Wykeham Professor of Experimental Physics at Oxford University.

In 1897 Townsend developed the falling-drop method for measuring e. His procedure, which used saturated clouds of water, was later improved and ultimately led to the highly accurate oil-drop method developed by Robert A. Millikan of the U.S. In 1901 he discovered that gas molecules can be ionized by collision with ions.

After 1908 Townsend concentrated on the study of the properties of electron swarms. He also deduced the collision cross section (probability) for momentum transfer in terms of the mean energy. Independently of the German physicist Carl Ramsauer, he discovered the Ramsauer–Townsend effect: that the mean free path of electrons depends on their energy. This effect was later of extreme importance in understanding the electron's wavelike nature as described in the quantum theory.

Although Townsend retired in 1941 (the year that he was knighted), he continued his work and writing. His books include The Theory of Ionisation of Gases by Collision (1910); Motion of Electrons in Gases (1925); Electricity and Radio Transmission (1943); and Electromagnetic Waves (1951).