William Thomoson Kelvin

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William Thomoson Kelvin was born into a large family in Belfast, Ireland on June

26, 1824. The young Kelvin's mother had died when he was only six years old. Kelvin

was taught mathematics by his father beyond the level that the universities were teaching

at the time. Kelvin's father accepted a teaching job at the University of Glasgow in 1834.

Kelvin, now age ten, also entered the university at this time along with his brother, who

was eleven.

By the time that Kelvin was 16, he had his first papers published. These papers

defended the work of a scientist named Fouier, whose work had been criticized heavily by

British scientists. When Kelvin was fifteen he wrote a gold metal winning essay which he

called "An Essay on the Figure of Earth." Kelvin also earned many other awards during

his career at Glasgow. In this essay, Kelvin demonstrated exceptional mathematical

ability. He is said to have used this essay as a source of inspiration throughout his life for

ideas. He even looked back on this essay when he was just a few months from his death,

at the age of eighty-three.

In 1841 Kelvin entered into the University of Cambridge, graduating with high

honors four years later. After completing his schooling at Cambridge, Kelvin traveled to

Paris to begin work in a laboratory in order to gain more experience and competence in

experimental work. When Kelvin was twenty-two years old he was elected to the position

of professor of physics. This was largely a result of a well organized campaign run by his

father. Kelvin then remained at the university for the rest of his working life.

Kelvin first invented the absolute temperature scale in 1847, which was later

named after him. The Kelvin scale is what William Kelvin is probably what he is known

for best. In 1933, the scientists of thirty-one nations accepted a temperature scale based

on Kelvin's absolute temperature scale. Today it is the most widely used scale for

scientific work. In the Kelvin scale, absolute zero is -273.16 degrees Celsius, which is

zero K. Absolute zero is the lowest temperature theoretically possible. The idea behind it

is the complete absence of heat. The Kelvin scale, or absolute temperature, scale is based

upon this idea.

In 1851 he published a paper which he entitled "On the Dynamical Theory of

Heat." In this paper he included his ideas on the second law of thermodynamics. This

version of the second law was a major development in the unification of scientific theories.

This unification was something that Kelvin had been working towards all of his life, even

though he didn't believe would happen during his lifetime, or possibly ever. Also, in this

paper Kelvin added a recognition of James Prescott Joule's idea of the mechanical

equivalent of heat. This paper served as a cautious endorsement of Joule's idea. This idea

claimed that heat and motion were directly related to each other. This means that where

there is heat there is motion, and where there is motion there is heat. There was a great

deal of controversy when Joule first introduced this idea. In this time it was a common

belief that heat was actually a fluid of some type. In fact, the first time Kelvin met Joule to

discuss his idea, he wasn't even ready to accept it.

One of Kelvin's interests was attempting to calculate the age of the sun, and so he

calculated values for it. Working with a man named Hermon von Helmotz, he calculated a

maximal value of fifty million years. What he did not know was the effect of not yet

discovered radioactivity. Because he was without this information, he was never able to

calculate an accurate measurement. Also, Kelvin was interested in the age of the Earth as

well. He calculated the age of the Earth to be around four hundred million years. He

based these results on the rate of a cooling body after it first solidifies, or when the Earth

was first formed. These conclusion made him an opponent of Charles Darwin's Theory of

Evolution. Kelvin believed that even a million years ago the Earth would have been much

too hot to have supported life.

In 1854 Kelvin began work on the project of laying the transatlantic cables. A man

by the name of E.O.W. Whitehouse, the Atlantic Telegraph Company's chief electrician,

disagreed with Kelvin's theoretical findings in the design of the cables. He believed that

his practical experience made him a much better candidate for the job. Eventually, the

Atlantic telegraph company fired him and adopted Kelvin's new ideas. Kelvin is credited

with helping solve the problem of transmitting electrical signals over long distances. In

1858, Kelvin patented his invention of the mirror galvanometer for use as a long distance

receiver. Later it became the most widely used receiver of underwater cable networks,

after it was given a few modifications. Also, Kelvin invented the flexible wire conductor.

Kelvin's work on the transatlantic cable and all of his inventions made him a very wealthy

and famous man.

Additional accomplishments of Kelvin include being knighted by Queen Victoria in

1866. Also, after retiring from the from the University of Cambridge in 1889, he became

the president of the Royal Society in1890. He remained in this position for five years. In

1892 Kelvin was made Baron Kelvin of Largs. Finally, in 1902, he was awarded with the

Order of Merit.

Kelvin lived a long and fruitful life. He is known for his great deal of work as a

scientist, physicist, and as a mathematician. He patented many inventions, published

numerous papers and contributed much to society. In 1907 William Thomson Kelvin died

quietly in his home near Largs, Scotland at the age of 85. Kelvin was buried at

Westminster Abby, London.

Works Cited

Edited by Charles W. Eliot, LL.D. The Harvard Classics: Scientific Papers.

New York: P.F. Collier and Son Company, 1910.

"Kelvin, William Thomson, Lord." Encyclopedia Britanica. 1978 ed.

"Kelvin, William Thomson." http://phys.suwon.ac.kr./~kdh/sct/kelvin.html

"William Thomson (Later Lord Kelvin)."

http://www.energy.ca.gov/education/scientists/Kelvin.html

"William Thomson (Lord Kelvin).

http://www.physics.gla.ac.uk/intro/phy/famous/kelvin/kelvin.html