Celebrating Lord Kelvin’s 200th Birthday: The Kelvin Bubble

Published: 30 April 2024

See Lord Kelvin's solution to filling space, University of Glasgow, Sat 8th to Sat 15th June, 8am-6pm, No booking required, Free.

Ever wondered why bees build honeycombs with identical 2D hexagons? William Thompson (a.k.a. Lord Kelvin) of the University of Glasgow University did. He identified the tetrakaidekahedron, a solid figure with 14 faces and its bubble equivalent, the Kelvin Cell. A 3D space-filling building block! Celebrate the 200th birthday of the University of Glasgow’s greatest scientist through a mathematical, scientific, and artistic exploration of Kelvin’s foam model of the luminiferous aether, which was then believed to permeate the entire Universe! A collaboration between the University of Glasgow’s School of Mathematics & Statistics (led by Dr Stephen J. Watson), the School of Physics and Astronomy, and artist Dr Gregor Harvie.

Venue: University of Glasgow, Advanced Research Centre (ARC), 11 Chapel Lane, Glasgow, G11 6EW
Date: Sat 8th to Sat 15th June
Time: 8am-6pm
Booking: No booking required
Cost: Free

For more information on the University of Glasgow Lord Kelvin 200 anniversary celebrations, please visit this link. 

First published: 30 April 2024

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Cartoon people writing maths equations on a black board

Lord Kelvin 200

ARC

University of Glasgow, School of Physics and Astronomy

University of Glasgow, School of Mathematics & Statistics