Lord Kelvin

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Lore & Background

William Thomson was born on 26 June 1824 in Belfast. His father, James Thomson, was a teacher of mathematics and engineering. His mother Margaret died in 1830 when William was six. William and his elder brother James were tutored at home by their father. In 1832 his father was appointed professor of mathematics at the University of Glasgow, and the family moved there in October 1833. Thomson attended the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and in 1834, aged 10, began studying at the University of Glasgow. At age 12 he won a prize for translating Lucian of Samosata's Dialogues of the Gods from Ancient Greek to English. In the academic year 1839/1840, he won the class prize in astronomy for his 'Essay on the figure of the Earth'. He became intrigued with Joseph Fourier's Théorie analytique de la chaleur and published his first scientific paper under the pseudonym P.Q.R., defending Fourier. In 1841 he entered Peterhouse, Cambridge, graduating as second wrangler in 1845 and winning the first Smith's Prize. He was elected a fellow of St Peter's in June 1845 and spent time in the laboratory of Henri Victor Regnault in Paris. In 1846, at age 22, he was appointed to the chair of natural philosophy at the University of Glasgow. He worked closely with mathematics professor Hugh Blackburn. In 1847 he heard James Prescott Joule argue for the mutual convertibility of heat and mechanical work; Thomson was intrigued but sceptical, retreating to the Carnot–Clapeyron school. He had a career as an electrical telegraph engineer and inventor, and for his work on the transatlantic telegraph project he was knighted in 1866 by Queen Victoria, becoming Sir William Thomson. He worked on the mariner's compass. He was ennobled in 1892 as Baron Kelvin, of Largs in the County of Ayr, in recognition of his achievements in thermodynamics and his opposition to Irish Home Rule. He refused offers from other universities, remaining at Glasgow until his retirement in 1899. Around 1899 he was recruited by George Eastman as vice-chairman of the board of the British company Kodak Limited. In 1904 he became Chancellor of the University of Glasgow. He resided in Netherhall, a mansion in Largs built in the 1870s, where he died in 1907.

Reader's Guide

Lord Kelvin's significance rests on his foundational contributions to thermodynamics and his role in unifying physics. He was instrumental in formulating the first and second laws of thermodynamics. While the existence of absolute zero was known before his work, Kelvin determined its correct value as approximately −273.15 degrees Celsius or −459.67 degrees Fahrenheit. Absolute temperatures are stated in units of kelvin in his honour. The Joule–Thomson effect is also named after him. In 1845 he gave the first mathematical development of Michael Faraday's idea that electric induction takes place through an intervening medium, or 'dielectric', and devised the mathematical technique of electrical images. His engineering work on the transatlantic telegraph project earned him a knighthood in 1866. He received the Royal Society's Copley Medal in 1883 and served as its president from 1890 to 1895. In 1892 he became the first scientist elevated to the House of Lords. The Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow has a permanent exhibition on his work, including many of his original papers, instruments, and other artefacts, including his smoking-pipe.

Did You Know?

• Kelvin was the first scientist to be elevated to the House of Lords, in 1892.
• He determined the correct value of absolute zero as approximately −273.15 degrees Celsius.
• He was knighted in 1866 by Queen Victoria for his work on the transatlantic telegraph project.
• At age 10 he began studying at the University of Glasgow, and at age 22 he became a professor there.
• He was recruited around 1899 by George Eastman to serve as vice-chairman of the board of Kodak Limited.