Essay, Research Paper: William Thomson Kelvin

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