Lord kelvin through the years

Lord Kelvin 200

This year, the University of Glasgow is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of William Thomson, one of the 19th century's most accomplished scientists. In 1892, his achievements earned him a peerage, and he chose the title of Baron Kelvin of Largs, inspired by the river that flows through the city and the coastal town where he kept a home. Today, Thomson is known throughout the world as Lord Kelvin.
Lord Kelvin drawing

A life of genius

Lord Kelvin's long life was marked by prodigious discoveries and remarkable achievements.

Graphic symbolising gravitational waves

The path to innovation

The groundbreaking work of Lord Kelvin has inspired UofG researchers for over a century.

A graphic of a satellite over earth

A legacy that lives on

The impact of Lord Kelvin's discoveries endure in high-tech modern communications.

A bust of Lord Kelvin

We need to talk about Kelvin

Professor Martin Hendry argues that Lord Kelvin's prowess as a science educator deserves greater prominence.

Lord Kelvin timeline

1824

• Born William Thomson in Belfast.

1830s

• The family moves to Glasgow; William's father James is appointed Chair of Mathematics of the University of Glasgow.
• Aged ten, William matriculates as a student of the University.

1840s

• Publishes a well-received paper on Fourier's mathematics in the Cambridge Mathematical Journal, as well as his first papers on heat and electricity.
• Appointed Chair of Natural Philosophy at the University.
• Uses the term 'dynamical theory of heat', giving rise to the science thermodynamics.

1850s

• Publishes first paper on steam flow, giving birth to the Joule-Thomson effect and modern refrigeration.
• Formulates the second law of thermodynamics.
• Involved in his first patent with Rankine and Tait (improvements to copper conductors), launching his career as an inventor.
• With Joule, experiments with metals and intense electric fields, leading to discovery of resistance welding.
• Builds the cable galvanometer, which launches his career as an entrepreneur and industrialist.
• Publishes seminal paper on electrical frequency, paving the way for radio.

1860s

• Following his success in creating a transatlantic telegraph cable, receives a knighthood for his work on telegraphy.
• Introduces the quadrant electrometer and patents the siphon recorder – the forerunner of the bubble jet printer.
• Publishes first paper on tidal prediction.

 

1870s

• The University moves to its present site at Gilmorehill and Kelvin takes up residence at 11 Professors' Square.
• Begins the diffusion experiment, which he expected to last up to 10,000 years and which can still be seen in the University's Senate Room.
• Exhibits the tide-calculating machine and the tide-gauge. Kelvin's private residence, Netherhall, at Largs in Ayrshire, is completed.

1880s

• All 106 gas lamps in his residence at 11 Professors' Square are replaced by electric lighting.
• Calculates the Antarctic ice sheets and relates to the Geological Society of Glasgow the importance of ice and oceans in climate change.
• Publishes papers on refrigeration, the gyrocompass as a method of navigation, and on the chirality of molecules.
• Visits America to deliver the Baltimore series of lectures on the theory of light.

 

1890s

• Develops the dripless tap.
• Elevated to a peerage, taking the name Lord Kelvin from the river below the University.
• Lord Kelvin's Jubilee: the University and guests from all over the world celebrate 50 years of his professorship.
• Travels to Canada and America. On hearing of the discovery of electrons, he postulates that they will have quantum energy.
• Becomes the first person in the world to send a wireless telegram.

1900s

• Continues his broad research, writing papers on light and radium emanations and deep-water waves.
• Elected Chancellor of the University of Glasgow.
• Lord Kelvin dies at Netherhall on 17 December 1907, having worked up until three hours before his death.

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