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Lord Kelvin

William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, OM, GCVO, PC, FRS, FRSE (26 June 1824 – 17 December 1907)[7] was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast.[8] He was the professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, where he undertook significant research and mathematical analysis of electricity, was instrumental in the formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics,[9][10] and contributed significantly to unifying physics, which was then in its infancy of development as an emerging academic discipline. 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 to be elevated to the House of Lords.[11]

For other people named William Thomson, see William Thomson (disambiguation).

The Lord Kelvin

17 December 1907(1907-12-17) (aged 83)
Largs, Scotland

British[1][2]

Liberal (1865–1886)
Liberal Unionist (from 1886)

Margaret Crum
(m. 1852; died 1870)
Frances Blandy
(m. 1874⁠–⁠1907)
[3]

None[4]

James Thomson (brother)

Absolute temperatures are stated in units of kelvin in his honour. While the existence of a coldest possible temperature, absolute zero, was known before his work, Kelvin determined its correct value as approximately −273.15 degrees Celsius or −459.67 degrees Fahrenheit.[12] The Joule–Thomson effect is also named in his honour.


He worked closely with mathematics professor Hugh Blackburn in his work. He also had a career as an electrical telegraph engineer and inventor which propelled him into the public eye and earned him wealth, fame, and honours. For his work on the transatlantic telegraph project, he was knighted in 1866 by Queen Victoria, becoming Sir William Thomson. He had extensive maritime interests and worked on the mariner's compass, which previously had limited reliability.


He was ennobled in 1892 in recognition of his achievements in thermodynamics, and of his opposition to Irish Home Rule,[13][14][15] becoming Baron Kelvin, of Largs in the County of Ayr. The title refers to the River Kelvin, which flows near his laboratory at the University of Glasgow's Gilmorehill home at Hillhead. Despite offers of elevated posts from several world-renowned universities, Kelvin refused to leave Glasgow, remaining until his retirement from that post in 1899.[7] Active in industrial research and development, he was recruited around 1899 by George Eastman to serve as vice-chairman of the board of the British company Kodak Limited, affiliated with Eastman Kodak.[16] In 1904 he became chancellor of the University of Glasgow.[7]


He resided in Netherhall, a redstone mansion in Largs, which he built in the 1870s and where he died in 1907. The Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow has a permanent exhibition on the work of Kelvin, which includes many of his original papers, instruments, and other artefacts, including his smoking pipe.

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

Keith Medal

Foreign member of the , 1851.

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Fellow of the Royal Society

Royal Medal

Hon. Member of the Royal College of Preceptors (), 1858.

College of Teachers

Hon. Member of the , 1859.[106]

Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland

1866.[107]

Knighted

Commander of the Imperial (Brazil), 1873.

Order of the Rose

Knight of the Prussian Order , 1884.

Pour le Mérite

Commander of the , 1890.

Order of Leopold (Belgium)

Baron Kelvin, of in the County of Ayr, 1892.[108] The title derives from the River Kelvin, which runs by the grounds of the University of Glasgow. His title died with him, as he was survived by neither heirs nor close relations.

The memorial of William Thomson, Baron Kelvin in Kelvingrove Park next to the University of Glasgow

Largs

1896.[109]

Knight Grand Cross of the Victorian Order

Honorary degree (LL.D.), Yale University, 5 May 1902.[110]

Legum doctor

One of the first members of the , 1902.[111]

Order of Merit

11 August 1902.[82]

Privy Counsellor

Honorary degree Doctor mathematicae from the on 6 September 1902, when they celebrated the centenary of the birth of mathematician Niels Henrik Abel.[112][113]

Royal Frederick University

First international recipient of , 1905.

John Fritz Medal

Order of the First Class of the , 1901.

Sacred Treasure of Japan

He is buried in , London next to Isaac Newton.

Westminster Abbey

Lord Kelvin was commemorated on the £20 note issued by the in 1971; in the current issue of banknotes, his image appears on the bank's £100 note. He is shown holding his adjustable compass and in the background is a map of the transatlantic cable.[114]

Clydesdale Bank

In 2011 he was inducted to the .[115]

Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame

is 26 June. It was chosen to celebrate his birth date and has been held annually, since 2019.

World Refrigeration Day

Taylor column

People on Scottish banknotes

List of presidents of the Royal Society

Lindley, D. (2004). . Joseph Henry Press. ISBN 978-0-309-09073-5.

Degrees Kelvin: A Tale of Genius, Invention and Tragedy

Sharlin, H. I. (1979). Lord Kelvin: The Dynamic Victorian. Pennsylvania State University Press.  978-0-271-00203-3.

ISBN

at Project Gutenberg

Works by Lord Kelvin

at Internet Archive

Works by or about Lord Kelvin

at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)

Works by Lord Kelvin

at The Online Books Page

Heroes of the Telegraph

"Horses on Mars", from Lord Kelvin

at Institute of Physics website

William Thomson: king of Victorian physics

Archived 2 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine, Hasok Chang and Sang Wook Yi (PDF file)

Measuring the Absolute: William Thomson and Temperature

(gallica)

Reprint of papers on electrostatics and magnetism

(Internet Archive)

The molecular tactics of a crystal

Quotations. This collection includes sources for many quotes.

Kelvin Building Opening – The Leys School, Cambridge (1893)

The Kelvin Library