William Thomson Lord Kelvin Scientist
- Name : Thomson, Lord Kelvin
- Born : 1824
- Died : 1907
- Category : Science
- Finest Moment : Rules of thermodynamics published
Born in Belfast, as William Thomson, Kelvin's life became inextricably bound up with Glasgow and its University. He matriculated to study at Glasgow University at the age of 11, his father being Professor of Mathematics there. After a period of study at Cambridge, Kelvin returned to Glasgow in 1846, becoming Professor of Natural Philosophy (Physics).
His name lives on, particularly in the science of thermodynamics, where he proposed an absolute scale of temperature. A Kelvin degree is equivalent to a Celsius degree, but the scale is adjusted so that zero represents absolute zero, the temperature at which all molecular motion ceases. On this scale, water freezes at about 273K, and boils at about 373K.
But Kelvin was also extremely active as a practical scientist, making developments, amongst other useful, devices, in electric telegraphy. In 1866 he supervised the laying of a marine cable from Ireland to Newfoundland. He was knighted in 1874 for his services to telegraphy. A keen sailor, he invented several instruments useful for navigation, including an improved compass, a sounding machine, and a tide predictor. In all, he published well over 600 scientific papers, starting at the age of 15.
It has been said that he failed as a Professor, i.e. as a teacher. But if he was not a coach, helping students to pass exams, he was certainly an enthusiastic and even inspiring teacher. He had no syllabus of lectures and used no notes in lecturing. Any unusual occurrence was always welcomed as a matter for investigation. One morning he arrived a few minutes late. He apologised and explained that the College clock had stopped and that he had gone to check it. He had recently devised a plan for controlling the clock from the Observatory by electricity and so was much interested in it. He found that a carpenter who had been at work in the tower had accidentally dropped a wood chip between two wheels, stopping them. Despite this, the pendulum was swinging as usual, kept in motion by the current.
The next day, the students found that a clock dial with pendulum, but without mainspring or weight, operated by an electric current, had been erected in the classroom. It stayed there for the next six weeks, while the session lasted, and showed no abatement in the swing.