LORD KELVIN (WILLIAM THOMSON): BIOGRAPHY, CONTRIBUTIONS, PHRASES - BIOGRAPHIES - 2025

William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824-1907) was a British inventor and physicist, who excelled in the discipline of thermodynamics. Thomson devoted himself to studying the conservation of energy, as well as the equivalence between work and heat. Likewise, he determined the absolute temperature scale, known today as the Kelvin scale.

In addition, Lord Kelvin dedicated himself to designing a series of inventions that greatly influenced the development of telegraphy; he even managed to calculate absolute zero and determined the second law of thermodynamics. For this reason, he is considered one of the scientists who most collaborated with the modernization of physics during the 19th century.

Lord Kelvin. Source: Messrs. Dickinson, London, New Bond Street "

The authors José A. Manzanares and María Amparo Gilabert, in their text My favorite classic: William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), affirm that Lord Kelvin was a generalist researcher who favored scientific development with experiments, theories and instruments in various areas, showing a great mastery in the use of analogies and a remarkable intuition to understand physical phenomena.

Similarly, these authors point out that Thomson had two particular qualities: the first consisted in his ability to translate apparently abstract mathematical and physical results into everyday life; the second was his search for generalizations for the theorems, this with the aim of achieving a global understanding of the phenomena.

In general terms, it can be said that Thomson modified the link between physics and society and industry. His most popular inventions include the mirror galvanometer, the gyrostatic compass, the siphon recorder, and a number of calculating machines. In addition, he published up to 661 works, along with 25 books and 70 patents.

Biography

Personal life

William Thomson was born on June 26, 1824 in Belfast, a town in Northern Ireland. His family was made up of Scots from Ulster, descendants of a group of immigrants who maintained their Presbyterian religion.

At the age of six, the future inventor was orphaned by a mother, so his life was strongly influenced by his father figure: James Thomson, who at first worked on a farm to later learn arithmetic on his own. He even taught mathematics at the University of Glasgow.

For this reason, William was emotionally linked to this institution from an early age. In fact, the name was changed to Baron Kelvin of Largs in order to honor the river that surrounds the campus.

The attachment that William Thomson felt with this university was so strong that, after retiring from the chair he held for 53 years, he decided to enroll as a student so as not to disengage from the campus where he had lived since the age of 8.

In 1852, he married Miss Margaret Crum, after being rejected for the third time by Sabina Smith, whom he considered his first love. That same year he made a series of talks where he addressed the thermal death of the universe. In 1870, his wife Margaret passed away. This led him to remarry Frances Anna Blandy in 1874. Thomson did not father children in any of the marriages.

William Thomson passed away on December 17, 1907 at the age of 83. His remains rest in Westminster Abbey, located in the United Kingdom, next to the tomb of Isaac Newton.

Academic life

William Thomson was one of the researchers who most dominated the British science scene during the Victorian era. He was a member of more than one hundred scientific societies, chaired the Royal Society of London (between 1890 and 1895) and received 21 honorary doctorates.

He stood out as a popularizer and teacher, since he frequently used a set of novel experimental demonstrations during his public exhibitions. For this, he received numerous awards and distinctions.

The celebration of the fifty years of his chair in 1896 was an important social and scientific event, whose extension reached international levels; an estimated 2,500 guests from around the world attended.

Contributions to science

Lord Kelvin did numerous works for various areas of physics, yet he notably excelled in the field of thermodynamics. For example, Thomson discovered and calculated absolute zero, which is the lowest temperature that matter can reach, where its particles are immobile. This absolute zero is at -273.15 degrees Celsius.

Lord Kelvin drawing. Source: Biographies of Scientific Men.djvu

The Kelvin scale and the Thomson effect

Likewise, Thomson is owed the Kelvin temperature scale, which consists of a natural scale where the different equations of thermodynamics are noted, along with the unit of temperature. The Kelvin scale is recorded in the International System of Units.

In 1851, the researcher discovered the Thomson effect, which states that a matter subjected to a thermal gradient can exchange heat with the outside if it is traveled by an intensity of electric current.

Likewise, reciprocally an electric current can be generated by that matter that is subjected to a thermal gradient and traveled by a heat wave.

The mirror galvanometer

It is an instrument created by Lord Kelvin, which allows to calculate and detect an electric current. It can be defined as an electromechanical analog transducer that manages to produce a rotational deformation in response to the current flowing through its coil.

Before Thomson's invention, there were already a few copies of the galvanometer. However, the Lord Kelvin variation used small magnets that were attached to a light mirror, suspended by a kind of thread.

This device worked by deflecting a beam of light that was magnified by small currents. Alternatively, the deflection of the suspended magnets could be observed using a microscope.

Other studies and research

In 1851, Thomson conducted an essay entitled Dynamic Theory of Heat, which was presented to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In this text the principle of dissipation of energy was stipulated, which is a fundamental pillar for the second law of thermodynamics.

Lord Kelvin was also interested in dating the ancient times of planet Earth. However, this research did not provide adequate results; Some claim that this happened because of the fervent religiosity shown by the scientist.

Being a faithful follower of Christian doctrines, Thomson agreed with the views of creationism. For this reason, the researcher frequently cited the Bible and tried to use the scientific method to prove the veracity of that text.

Furthermore, Lord Kelvin considered Darwinian calculations of the habitability of the Earth to be inaccurate. For this author, the planet was actually much younger, which implied that the theory of the evolution of species was not possible.

From the calculation of temperatures, Thomson affirmed that the Earth would be about one hundred million years old; a result that is very far from what is estimated today (4.5 billion years).

Finally, it must be added that Lord Kelvin participated in the development of telegraphy. In fact, he was part of the board of directors of The Atlantic Telegraph Co, whose project aimed to lay a telegraph cable that would cross the ocean between Europe and America.

Phrases

Below are some of Lord Kelvin's most famous quotes:

- “Don't assume that math is hard, sour and repulsive to common sense. It is simply the idealization of common sense ”.

- "I think that the more thoroughly science is studied, the further one moves away from any concept that approaches atheism."

- "When you are facing a difficulty, you are about to make a discovery."

- "If one thinks hard enough, science will force him to believe in God."

- "I hardly need to say that the beginning and maintenance of life on earth is absolutely and infinitely beyond the range of sound speculation in dynamic science."

- "Living with friends is the essential principle of happiness."

- "I have not the smallest molecule of faith in air navigation that is not in a balloon."

- “What is not defined, cannot be measured. What is not measured can not be improved. What is not improved, is always degraded ”.

- "It is impossible to create devices that fly and are heavier than air."

Featured posts

In 1850, Thomson published his text Treatise on Natural Philosophy, which was focused on the study of physics taking into account the principles of energy conservation and minimal action. According to José A. Manzanares, this work was the origin of an innovative school of mathematical physics.

Likewise, his text Baltimore Lectures (1884) also stood out, which consists of a compilation of the notes he collected during his classes at John Hopkins University. There are two versions of this text: one produced in 1884 and the other in 1904; the latter is more interesting than the former, since it is an extended edition that took 19 years to write.

William Thomson also published the following texts:

- The molecular tactics of the crystal, published in 1894.

- Reprint of Papers on Electrostatics and Magnetism, 1872.

- Principles of Mechanics and Dynamics, in collaboration with Peter Guthrie Tait.

- Popular lectures and adresses, made in 1889.

References

1. Alemán, R. (sf) Kelvin versus Darwin: paradigm clash in nineteenth-century science. Retrieved on December 30, 2019 from Dialnet: Dialnet.net
2. Burchfield, J. (1990) Lord Kelvin and the age of the Earth. Retrieved on December 30, 2019 from Google books: books.google.com
3. Manzanares, J. Gilabert, M. (2015) My favorite classic: William Thomson (Lord Kelvin). Retrieved on December 30, 2019 from ResearchGate: researchgate.net
4. SA (sf) Galvanometer. Retrieved on December 30, 2019 from Wikipedia: es.wikipedia.org
5. SA (nd) Lord Kelvin, A Physics Assortment. Retrieved on December 30, 2019 from the University of Girona.
6. SA (sf) William Thomson. Retrieved on December 30, 2019 from Wikipedia: es.wikipedia.org
7. Smith, C. (1989) Energy and empire: a biographical study of Lord Kelvin. Retrieved on December 30, 2019 from Google books: books.google.com