Kelvin, Baron
Kelvin, William Thomson, Baron (1824-1907), a British physicist. Considered the foremost scientist of his time, Thomson was created Baron Kelvin of Largs in 1892. Kelvin originated the temperature scale now named after him. The basic unit of the scale is called the kelvin, which is equivalent to a degree Celsius. Unlike the Celsius scale, the Kelvin scale begins at absolute zero, and, therefore, all temperatures on it are positive. A paper on heat dissipation Kelvin presented in 1851 is considered one of the first statements of the second law of thermodynamics. Kelvin made a great number of practical contributions in the fields of telegraphy, electricity, and navigation.
William Thomson was born in Belfast, Ireland. He attended the University of Glasgow and Cambridge University. After a year of study in Paris he was appointed professor of natural philosophy (physics) at Glasgow in 1846, a position he held until he retired in 1899. In 1857 Thomson was electrical engineer in an unsuccessful attempt to lay an Atlantic telegraph cable. In 1866 he took part in the two voyages of the Great Eastern, the second of which connected North America and Europe by cable. On his return Thomson was knighted. In 1867 he patented a pair of devices that improved the reception of long-distance telegraph signals.
In 1873 Thomson began a study of nautical problems. This led to his invention of a compass for steel vessels, a sounding apparatus, and various instruments for measuring tides. Among his many other inventions were instruments for the measurement of various electrical quantities. In all, Thomson published more than 300 original papers bearing upon nearly every branch of physical science.
Thomson inspired many colleagues and students to important research. He was president of the Royal Society, 1890-95, and in 1904 became chancellor of the University of Glasgow. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.