Biography of William Thomson Kelvin | British mathematician and physicist.


(Belfast, 1824 - Netherhall, 1907) British mathematician and physicist. Commonly known you as lord Kelvin, and was the second son of James Thomson, Professor of mathematics at the University of Glasgow.
In 1841 he went to Cambridge, where in 1845 he graduated and Smith was awarded the first prize. He then went to Paris, and for a year worked in the laboratory of Regnault, who then carried out his classic research on steam. In 1846, at the age of twenty-two, he was appointed Professor of natural philosophy at the University of Glasgow.
In the England of that time experimental studies did not know a great success; Despite this, the Chair of Kelvin became a pulpit that inspired, for more than half a century, scientists: the Sage in question corresponds primarily the merit of the pre-eminent place that occupied Britain in the development of physics. One of his first studies dealt with the age of the Earth; on the basis of the conduction of heat, it believed that a few hundred million years back the physical conditions of our planet should be very different from the current ones, which resulted in controversies with geologists.
In 1847 he met Joule in the course of a scientific meeting held in Oxford. At the time it carried out their experiences and presented the heat as a form of energy, which was the first law of thermodynamics. However, they had to take several years before the most eminent physicists are shown in accordance with Joule. Kelvin was one of the first that made it, and as a result was criticized by Stokes, who considered him "inclined to become joulista".
Joule ideas about the nature of the heat certainly exerted a considerable influence in Kelvin, and led to this, in 1848, to the creation of a thermodynamic scale for temperature, absolute nature, and, therefore, independent of equipment and substances used; such an instrument is named after its inventor, and is currently used in many opencircuit probe measures.
Kelvin went on the road started, and in 1851 to the "Royal Society" of Edinburgh presented a report on the dynamic theory of heat, Dynamical theory of heat; This famous text contained the principle of the dissipation of energy, which, together with the statement equivalent of Clausius, in the previous year, integrates the basis of the second law of thermodynamics. In this way, Kelvin showed that the conclusions of Carnot were not opposed to the work of Rumford, Robert Mayer and Joule; the dynamic theory of heat, together with the principle of the conservation of energy, was accepted by everyone.
The scientist, in addition, carried out research in the field of systems of measurement units; in 1851, Weber had proposed the application of the absolute system of units of Gauss to electromagnetism, and Kelvin renewed such propositions, until in 1861 he managed to constitute, in the bosom of the "British Association", the famous Committee aimed at the determination of the electrical units.
The wise man, however, must its notoriety to the improvement brought to the transmissions of submarine cables. In 1855 she discussed the mathematical theory of signals of these and studied the factors that impeded the transmissions; his research culminated in the invention of the galvanometer of its name and the "siphon recorder", Registrar through siphon that was patented in 1861.
In 1866, and in recognition of the services rendered to the transatlantic telegraphy by means of cables, Kelvin received the title of Knight; in 1892 he was elevated to the dignity of pair as "Baron Kelvin of Largs". He invented various instruments, and provided valuable contributions to navigation. It was very modest, and this made him seem at times withdrawn; However, it has always shown great kindness with the students, and was never more happy than when you could help and document even to the humblest researcher. He received many honors, and in 1904 he was appointed rector of the University of Glasgow. Retired from the Chair, he used almost all his time in the management of the conferences held in the United States on the wave theory of light.
Extracted from the website: Biografías y Vidas
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