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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Kelvin Biography Kelvin, William Thompson, first Baron (1824-1907). A distinguished British physicist. He was born at Belfast, June 26, 1824, the son of James Thomson, who was later professor of mathematics at Glasgow. He graduated in 1845 from St. Peter's College, Cambridge, and shortly afterward was elected fellow. He became professor of natural philosophy in the University of Glasgow in 1846, in which position he continued until 1899. While an undergraduate, he published a paper On the Uniform Motion of Heat 1n Homogeneous Solid Bodies and its Connection with the Mathematical Theory of Electricity, which was favorably received by scientists. He was for some time editor of the Cambridge Mathematical Journal and was the first editor of the Cambridge and Dublin Mathematical Journal which succeeded it, some of his most brilliant discoveries having appeared in these journals during a period of 65 years. He also contributed to the Comptes Rendus, the Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh, and various other journals. In the mathematical theories of elasticity, vortex motion, heat, electricity, and magnetism, his discoveries were notable. Lord Kelvin, who was the electrical engineer for the Atlantic cables of 1857-58 and 1865-66, made many very valuable improvements in signaling apparatus- invented the mirror galvanometer used for cable signaling, devised the siphon recorder still in use for receiving the signals, and from his study of the properties of the cable made an observation (borne out in more than a half century of practice) that a limit to the speed of operation would early be reached owing to the effect of the statical capacity. Lord Kelvin acted as engineer for several other cable companies; invented many pieces of electrical apparatus and methods for measurement; and developed an improved form of mariners' compass free from the magnetic action of the iron of the ship, and a deep-sea sounding apparatus, both of which are in widespread use. Lord Kelvin's work in thermodynamics was also of the greatest value, for it was he who first appreciated the importance of the doctrine of the conservation of energy as enunciated by Joule and who developed Carnot's work on heat so that it would harmonize with the new theory then being generally accepted; a paper On an Absolute Thermometric Scale contains much that is now considered fundamental in thermodynamics. Even as early as 1842 Lord Kelvin had published a paper containing the germ of his theories on the age of the earth, and this subject he constantly discussed and elaborated. He was also greatly interested in the problems resulting from the discovery of radium and the theory of electrons. His many papers, contributed to scientific journals, were collected in book form as follows: Reprint of Papers on Electricity arid Magnetism (1872); Mathematical and Physical Papers (6 vols., 1882-1911); Popular Lectures and Addresses (3 vols., 1891-94). With Prof. P. G. Tait he collaborated on Elements of Natural Philosophy (1873), later called A Treatise on Natural Philosophy. Lord Kelvin attended the meeting of the British Association held in Montreal in 1884, and afterward he visited Baltimore and delivered at Johns Hopkins University a course of lectures, published in 1904 as Baltimore Lectures on Molecular Dynamics and the Wave Theory of Light. In 1897, while in America for the Toronto meeting of the British Association, he visited several leading universities of the United States, and in 1902 he came again. For his work in connection with the Atlantic cable he was knighted in 1866, and in 1892 he was raised to the peerage. Honors from governments, scientific societies, and universities came to him from all over the world. He was the first to be awarded the Order of Merit (1902); he held the Grand Cross of the Victorian Order and the Prussian Order "Pour le Mérite," and was a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor; and served as president of the British Association (1871) , of the Royal Society, London (1890-95), and of the Royal Society, Edinburgh (four times). In 1896 there was a notable celebration at Glasgow of his jubilee as professor. Retiring three years later, he maintained his connection with the university as a research student and in 1904 was made chancellor. Lord Kelvin represented the highest type of physicist, since he combined powers of mathematical reasoning with the inventive faculty and manipulative skill of a great experimentalist. His interest and unflagging activity continued to the time of his death, which occurred Dec. 17, 1907, at his residence, Netherhall, near Largs, Scotland. Consult: Andrew Gray, Lord Kelvin (New York, 1908) ; Elizabeth King (Lord Kelvin's sister), Lord Kelvin's Early Home (ib., 1909) ; S. P. Thompson, Life of William Thomson, Baron Kelvin of Largs (ib., 1910). The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XIII (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 158-159. |