Lord Kelvin – A Measure of the Man

As a scientist, an engineer and an inventor, Lord Kelvin was a giant of the Victorian world. He revolutionised the current understanding of thermodynamics, influenced the development of modern physics, and as an engineer facilitated the deployment of the first transatlantic telegraph cable, along with many other achievements in the emerging field of electronics.

Although born in Belfast, Lord Kelvin enjoyed a lifelong connection with the city of Glasgow. He first came to Glasgow in 1833 at the age of nine when his father, Dr. James Thomson, was appointed Professor of Mathematics at Glasgow University. The following year, the young William began his studies at the University (this was not unusual at the time: the University provided schooling for bright pupils as well as undergraduate students). He would go on to spend most of his adult life working at Glasgow University until his death in Largs, Ayrshire, in December 1907.

During his schooling in Glasgow, Thomson showed remarkable promise in mathematics and science, winning the class prize in astronomy, and becoming engrossed in the ideas of the French mathematician Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier. He had his first scientific paper, based on Fourier's work, published (under the pseudonym P.Q.R.) while still in his teens.

Thomson left Glasgow to study for an undergraduate degree in mathematics at Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he gained a first class degree (coming second in his year), won a prestigious Smith's prize, and still found time to row in the winning team of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. After graduation, he studied briefly in France before returning to Glasgow University in 1846 as the newly appointed chair of natural philosophy.

At Glasgow, Thomson quickly got to work transforming the way heat was understood. At the time, the dominant theory of heat was the "caloric theory", the idea that heat was itself an invisible fluid that passed through material objects, but this understanding was under attack from James Prescott Joule (who gave his name to the unit of energy). Thomson was initially sceptical of Joule's theories, but became more sympathetic as he pursued research in the laboratory. By 1851, he was convinced, and played a large part in discrediting the caloric theory in the wider scientific community. Working together with Joule, he helped to construct the modern kinetic theory of heat between 1852 and 1856.

It was during his research into the theory of heat that he became frustrated with the inability of the existing technology and terminology to describe an absolute temperature. He devised a temperature scale that would give a measurement of temperature that was, in his words, "quite independent of the physical properties of any specific substance". This is now the Kelvin scale of temperature, which is used throughout the sciences as the standard unit of measurement. Projecting this scale backwards, he calculated that a point would be reached where no further heat could be extracted from an object: its temperature would be absolute zero. This point (–273°C) marks the beginning of his temperature scale: zero Kelvin.

In 1852 Thomson married, but his new wife was quickly taken ill and as her health continued to deteriorate, Thomson largely retreated from public life. The secretary (and future president) of the Royal Society, George Gabriel Stokes persuaded Thomson to return to work in 1854, analysing the results of experiments by Michael Faraday (the father of electromagnetism) relating to the proposed transatlantic telegraph cable. He took into account both the scientific and economic considerations of the project, calculating the number of messages the proposed cable would be able to carry, and how swiftly they could be sent. His efforts earned him a place on the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company.

After two failed attempts, Thomson personally oversaw the successful laying of the first transatlantic cable in 1866, which would send messages using technology Thomson himself had invented. On the tenth of November of that year, Thomson received a knighthood in honour of his achievement that enabled America to communicate quickly with the rest of the world.

While working on the transatlantic cable project, Thomson was also collaborating with Scots physicist and mathematician Peter Guthrie Tait to produce their Treatise on Natural Philosophy. This groundbreaking textbook drew together many previously separate areas of study and united them under a single theory of energy. It was hugely influential in the development of physics as a modern and unified science.

A keen fan of seafaring, Thomson was responsible for several maritime innovations. He perfected the adjustable compass, necessary at a time when shipbuilding was employing more and more iron; developed a method for measuring the depth of the sea while in a moving boat; and invented a machine to predict the tides.

Among his other achievements, he also invented new, more accurate, means of measuring the flow of electricity, finely defining the Ampere, the unit of electrical current, and helped to decide on the design of the Niagara Falls power station. He was created Baron Kelvin of Largs in 1892 (a title that died with him, as he left no heirs) in honour of the river that flows past Glasgow University, and was elevated to the Privy Council in 1902. When he died in December 1907, he was buried in Westminster Abbey, alongside Isaac Newton.

One hundred years after his death, he is fondly remembered at Glasgow University. The Kelvin Building was named in his honour, and among its uses it is home to The Kelvin Society, an educational group that exists to foster knowledge of the great man's work. One of their major projects for Kelvin's centenary year will be the design of a virtual sculpture entitled Master of the Sea, dedicated to Lord Kelvin. Currently, Britain's most prominent work of public art dedicated to a scientist is the giant sculpture of Newton that graces the courtyard of the British Library by Edinburgh-born sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi. A smaller version of the sculpture can be seen in the gardens of Edinburgh's Dean Gallery. Although not an artist himself, Kelvin had a great appreciation of the arts: his sister, Elizabeth, was herself an artist and painted a portrait of Lord Kelvin that now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Glasgow University's Hunterian Museum (which itself celebrates a milestone anniversary this year, its 200th) will be re-opening (following refurbishment) its permanent exhibition Kelvin – Glasgow's Revolutionary Scientist in time for the centenary, and at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Matthew Trainer has plans to hold a poster exhibition entitled Kelvin's Clockwork Universe at the Kelvin Building as part of National Science and Engineering Week from 9-18 March*.

*The Kelvin Building is not open to the general public. Persons wishing to tour the Kelvin features at the University are urged to contact Matthew Trainer by email (m.trainer@physics.gla.ac.uk) or telephone (0141 330 6437) in advance.