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80-529: The Royal Society of Edinburgh ( RSE ) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland . It was established in 1783. As of 2021, there are around 1,800 Fellows . The Society covers a broader range of fields than the Royal Society of London, including literature and history . The Fellowship includes people from

160-797: A 126-ton schooner , the Lalla Rookh and used it as a base for entertaining friends and scientific colleagues. His maritime interests continued in 1871 when he was appointed to the Board of Enquiry into the sinking of HMS  Captain . In June 1873, Thomson and Jenkin were on board the Hooper , bound for Lisbon with 2,500 miles (4,020 km) of cable when the cable developed a fault. An unscheduled 16-day stop-over in Madeira followed, and Thomson became good friends with Charles R. Blandy and his three daughters. On 2 May 1874 he set sail for Madeira on

240-547: A Scottish connection but can be based anywhere in the world. The prize was founded in 1855 by Thomas Makdougall Brisbane , the long-serving fourth president of the Society. The medal was renamed in 2022 to reflect Margaret Moir's contribution to science in Scotland. The Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize Lectureship is a quadrennial award to recognise original work done by scientists resident in or connected with Scotland. The award

320-426: A copy of his paper, but when Joule eventually read it he wrote to Thomson on 6 October, claiming that his studies had demonstrated conversion of heat into work but that he was planning further experiments. Thomson replied on 27 October, revealing that he was planning his own experiments and hoping for a reconciliation of their two sides. Thomson returned to critique Carnot's original publication and read his analysis to

400-481: A form of the second law: It is impossible, by means of inanimate material agency, to derive mechanical effect from any portion of matter by cooling it below the temperature of the coldest of the surrounding objects. In the paper, Thomson supports the theory that heat was a form of motion but admits that he had been influenced only by the thought of Sir Humphry Davy and the experiments of Joule and Julius Robert von Mayer , maintaining that experimental demonstration of

480-574: A mandated quota as well as 2,000 Associate Members nationwide. Within most countries, the unqualified phrase "National Academy" will normally refer to that country's academy. For example, within the United States, the plural phrase "National Academies" is widely understood to refer to the U.S. National Academies. William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (26 June 1824 – 17 December 1907 )

560-483: A public lecture in Scotland. The award is named after William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824–1907), who was a famous mathematical physicist and engineer, and professor of natural philosophy at the University of Glasgow . Senior Prize-winners are required to have a Scottish connection but can be based anywhere in the world. The Keith Medal was historically awarded every four years for a scientific paper published in

640-514: A scale would be "quite independent of the physical properties of any specific substance." By employing such a "waterfall", Thomson postulated that a point would be reached at which no further heat (caloric) could be transferred, the point of absolute zero about which Guillaume Amontons had speculated in 1702. "Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat", published by Carnot in French in 1824,

720-589: A special organisation under the Prime Minister's jurisdiction, operating independently from the Government of Japan to promoting and enhancing scientific research in the country. The SCJ represents all Japanese scientists, researchers and engineers from multiple fields from the natural sciences to the humanities, making necessary policy recommendations relating to science and technology to the national government. The SCJ has 210 Council Members stipulated by

800-612: A succession of locations: Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh is an award in its own right that entitles fellows to use of the initialism or post-nominal letters FRSE in official titles. The Royal Medals are awarded annually, preferably to people with a Scottish connection, who have achieved distinction and international repute in either life sciences, physical and engineering sciences, arts, humanities and social sciences or business and commerce. The Medals were instituted in 2000 by Queen Elizabeth II, whose permission

880-426: A third, more substantial P.Q.R. paper On the uniform motion of heat in homogeneous solid bodies, and its connection with the mathematical theory of electricity . In the paper he made remarkable connections between the mathematical theories of thermal conduction and electrostatics , an analogy that James Clerk Maxwell was ultimately to describe as one of the most valuable science-forming ideas . William's father

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960-524: A whole the reverse of concentration is gradually going on – I believe that no physical action can ever restore the heat emitted from the Sun, and that this source is not inexhaustible; also that the motions of the Earth and other planets are losing vis viva which is converted into heat; and that although some vis viva may be restored for instance to the earth by heat received from the sun, or by other means, that

1040-502: A wide range of disciplines: science and technology, arts, humanities, medicine, social science , business, and public service . At the start of the 18th century, Edinburgh 's intellectual climate fostered many clubs and societies (see Scottish Enlightenment ). Though there were several that treated the arts, sciences and medicine, the most prestigious was the Society for the Improvement of Medical Knowledge, commonly referred to as

1120-415: Is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind: it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of science , whatever the matter may be. Though eminent in the academic field, Thomson was obscure to the general public. In September 1852, he married childhood sweetheart Margaret Crum, daughter of Walter Crum ; but her health broke down on their honeymoon, and over

1200-535: The Great Eastern . Thomson introduced a new method of deep-sea depth sounding , in which a steel piano wire replaces the ordinary hand line. The wire glides so easily to the bottom that "flying soundings" can be taken while the ship is at full speed. Thomson added a pressure gauge to register the depth of the sinker. About the same time he revived the Sumner method of finding a ship's position, and calculated

1280-624: The British Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Oxford . At that meeting, he heard James Prescott Joule making yet another of his, so far, ineffective attempts to discredit the caloric theory of heat and the theory of the heat engine built upon it by Sadi Carnot and Émile Clapeyron . Joule argued for the mutual convertibility of heat and mechanical work and for their mechanical equivalence. Thomson

1360-617: The County of Ayr . The title refers to the River Kelvin , which flows near his laboratory at the University of Glasgow's Gilmorehill home at Hillhead . Despite offers of elevated posts from several world-renowned universities, Kelvin refused to leave Glasgow, remaining until his retirement from that post in 1899. Active in industrial research and development, he was recruited around 1899 by George Eastman to serve as vice-chairman of

1440-524: The Lalla Rookh . As he approached the harbour, he signalled to the Blandy residence "Will you marry me?" and Fanny (Blandy's daughter Frances Anna Blandy) signalled back "Yes". Thomson married Fanny, 13 years his junior, on 24 June 1874. Over the period 1855 to 1867, Thomson collaborated with Peter Guthrie Tait on a textbook that founded the study of mechanics first on the mathematics of kinematics ,

1520-627: The Royal Society of Edinburgh in January 1849, still convinced that the theory was fundamentally sound. However, though Thomson conducted no new experiments, over the next two years he became increasingly dissatisfied with Carnot's theory and convinced of Joule's. In February 1851 he sat down to articulate his new thinking. He was uncertain of how to frame his theory, and the paper went through several drafts before he settled on an attempt to reconcile Carnot and Joule. During his rewriting, he seems to have considered ideas that would subsequently give rise to

1600-404: The Royal Society of London . Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh have included: 55°57′13″N 3°11′48″W  /  55.953594°N 3.196602°W  / 55.953594; -3.196602 National academy The extent of official recognition of national academies varies between countries. In some cases they are explicitly or de facto an arm of government; in others, as in

1680-891: The United Kingdom four national academies are the major learned societies of England: the Academy of Medical Sciences , British Academy , the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society . In addition, there are the Learned Society of Wales in Wales and the Royal Society of Edinburgh in Scotland . The UK Young Academy is for young scientists. Anne, Princess Royal and Prince Edward, Duke of Kent as Royal Fellows Sir James McDonald as President Charles, Prince of Wales as Patron In Japan, all of

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1760-577: The United Kingdom , they are voluntary, non-profit bodies with which the government has agreed to negotiate, and which may receive government financial support while retaining substantial independence. In some countries, a single academy covers all disciplines. In others, there are several academies, which work together more or less closely; for example, France , where the Institut de France groups five self-governing Academies, or Australia . In many states, they are organized in academies of science . In

1840-672: The United States National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). The affiliated organizations were granted congressional charters to operate under the National Academy of Sciences. In 1916 President Woodrow Wilson reincorporated the organization under the National Research Council to foster scientific research emphasizing American industries. Today NASEM is composed of three non-profit member organizations:

1920-463: The University of Glasgow , not out of any precociousness; the university provided many of the facilities of an elementary school for able pupils, and this was a typical starting age. In school, he showed a keen interest in the classics along with his natural interest in the sciences. At age 12 he won a prize for translating Lucian of Samosata's Dialogues of the Gods from Ancient Greek to English. In

2000-458: The heat death paradox (Kelvin's paradox) in 1862, which uses the second law of thermodynamics to disprove the possibility of an infinitely old universe; this paradox was later extended by William Rankine . In final publication, Thomson retreated from a radical departure and declared "the whole theory of the motive power of heat is founded on ... two ... propositions, due respectively to Joule, and to Carnot and Clausius." Thomson went on to state

2080-425: The second law of thermodynamics . In Carnot's theory, lost heat was absolutely lost, but Thomson contended that it was " lost to man irrecoverably; but not lost in the material world". Moreover, his theological beliefs led Thomson to extrapolate the second law to the cosmos, originating the idea of universal heat death . I believe the tendency in the material world is for motion to become diffused, and that as

2160-402: The transatlantic telegraph project , he was knighted in 1866 by Queen Victoria , becoming Sir William Thomson. He had extensive maritime interests and worked on the mariner's compass , which previously had limited reliability. Kelvin was ennobled in 1892 in recognition of his achievements in thermodynamics, and of his opposition to Irish Home Rule , becoming Baron Kelvin, of Largs in

2240-611: The "continental" mathematics resisted by a British establishment still working in the shadow of Sir Isaac Newton . Unsurprisingly, Fourier's work had been attacked by domestic mathematicians, Philip Kelland authoring a critical book. The book motivated Thomson to write his first published scientific paper under the pseudonym P.Q.R. , defending Fourier, which was submitted to The Cambridge Mathematical Journal by his father. A second P.Q.R. paper followed almost immediately. While on holiday with his family in Lamlash in 1841, he wrote

2320-472: The 1850s, the society once again unified its membership under one journal. During the 19th century, the society contained many scientists whose ideas laid the foundation of the modern sciences. From the 20th century onward, the society functioned not only as a focal point for Scotland's eminent scientists but also for the arts and humanities. It still exists today and continues to promote original research in Scotland. In February 2014, Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell

2400-470: The Carnot–Clapeyron theory further through his dissatisfaction that the gas thermometer provided only an operational definition of temperature. He proposed an absolute temperature scale in which "a unit of heat descending from a body A at the temperature T ° of this scale, to a body B at the temperature ( T −1)°, would give out the same mechanical effect [work] , whatever be the number T ." Such

2480-750: The Kelvin–Joule effect, and the published results did much to bring about general acceptance of Joule's work and the kinetic theory . Thomson published more than 650 scientific papers and applied for 70 patents (not all were issued). Regarding science, Thomson wrote the following: In physical science a first essential step in the direction of learning any subject is to find principles of numerical reckoning and practicable methods for measuring some quality connected with it. I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about and express it in numbers you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge

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2560-687: The Medical Society of Edinburgh, co-founded by the mathematician Colin Maclaurin in 1731. Maclaurin was unhappy with the specialist nature of the Medical Society, and in 1737 a new, broader society, the Edinburgh Society for Improving Arts and Sciences and particularly Natural Knowledge, was split from the specialist medical organisation, which then went on to become the Royal Medical Society . The cumbersome name

2640-466: The National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), and the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) (after 2015; formerly Institute of Medicine (IoM)). The U.S. national academies also serve as public policy advisors, research institutes , think tanks , and public administration consultants on issues of public importance or on request by the government. In

2720-427: The academic year 1839/1840, Thomson won the class prize in astronomy for his "Essay on the figure of the Earth" which showed an early facility for mathematical analysis and creativity. His physics tutor at this time was his namesake, David Thomson . Throughout his life, he would work on the problems raised in the essay as a coping strategy during times of personal stress. On the title page of this essay Thomson wrote

2800-547: The access he was given unsatisfactory, and the Agamemnon had to return home following a disastrous storm in June 1858. In London, the board was about to abandon the project and mitigate their losses by selling the cable. Thomson, Cyrus West Field and Curtis M. Lampson argued for another attempt and prevailed, Thomson insisting that the technical problems were tractable. Though employed in an advisory capacity, Thomson had, during

2880-410: The adulation. Thomson, along with the other principals of the project, was knighted on 10 November 1866. To exploit his inventions for signalling on long submarine cables, Thomson entered into a partnership with C. F. Varley and Fleeming Jenkin . In conjunction with the latter, he also devised an automatic curb sender , a kind of telegraph key for sending messages on a cable. Thomson took part in

2960-652: The atmospheric electric field. Thomson's water dropper electrometer was used for measuring the atmospheric electric field at Kew Observatory and Eskdalemuir Observatory for many years, and one was still in use operationally at the Kakioka Observatory in Japan until early 2021. Thomson may have unwittingly observed atmospheric electrical effects caused by the Carrington event (a significant geomagnetic storm) in early September 1859. Between 1870 and 1890

3040-645: The attention of the project's undertakers. In December 1856, he was elected to the board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Thomson became scientific adviser to a team with Whitehouse as chief electrician and Sir Charles Tilston Bright as chief engineer, but Whitehouse had his way with the specification, supported by Faraday and Samuel F. B. Morse . Thomson sailed on board the cable-laying ship HMS  Agamemnon in August 1857, with Whitehouse confined to land owing to illness, but

3120-671: The board of the British company Kodak Limited, affiliated with Eastman Kodak . In 1904 he became chancellor of the University of Glasgow . Kelvin resided in Netherhall, a redstone mansion in Largs , which he built in the 1870s and where he died in 1907. The Hunterian Museum at the University of Glasgow has a permanent exhibition on the work of Kelvin, which includes many of his original papers, instruments, and other artefacts, including his smoking pipe. Thomson's father, James Thomson ,

3200-476: The board that using purer copper for replacing the lost section of cable would improve data capacity, that he first made a difference to the execution of the project. The board insisted that Thomson join the 1858 cable-laying expedition, without any financial compensation, and take an active part in the project. In return, Thomson secured a trial for his mirror galvanometer, which the board had been unenthusiastic about, alongside Whitehouse's equipment. Thomson found

3280-683: The boys were tutored in French in Paris. Much of Thomson's life during the mid-1840s was spent in Germany and the Netherlands . Language study was given a high priority. His sister, Anna Thomson, was the mother of physicist James Thomson Bottomley FRSE. Thomson attended the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, where his father was a professor in the university department. In 1834, aged 10, he began studying at

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3360-446: The cable must be "abandoned as being practically and commercially impossible". Thomson attacked Whitehouse's contention in a letter to the popular Athenaeum magazine, pitching himself into the public eye. Thomson recommended a larger conductor with a larger cross section of insulation . He thought Whitehouse no fool and suspected that he might have the practical skill to make the existing design work. Thomson's work had attracted

3440-459: The cable-laying expedition of the SS ; Great Eastern , but the voyage was dogged by technical problems. The cable was lost after 1,200 miles (1,900 km) had been laid, and the project was abandoned. A further attempt in 1866 laid a new cable in two weeks, and then recovered and completed the 1865 cable. The enterprise was feted as a triumph by the public, and Thomson enjoyed a large share of

3520-444: The celebrated Henri Victor Regnault , at Paris; but in 1846 he was appointed to the chair of natural philosophy in the University of Glasgow. At age 22 he found himself wearing the gown of a professor in one of the oldest universities in the country and lecturing to the class of which he was a first year student a few years before. By 1847, Thomson had already gained a reputation as a precocious and maverick scientist when he attended

3600-492: The conversion of heat into work was still outstanding. As soon as Joule read the paper he wrote to Thomson with his comments and questions. Thus began a fruitful, though largely epistolary, collaboration between the two men, Joule conducting experiments, Thomson analysing the results and suggesting further experiments. The collaboration lasted from 1852 to 1856, its discoveries including the Joule–Thomson effect , sometimes called

3680-559: The countries of the former Soviet Union , and in the People's Republic of China , the national academies have considerable power over policy and personnel in their areas. There is, however, a growing consensus among international federations of learned academies that bona fide national (or learned) academies need to adhere to certain criteria: In 1863, President of the United States Abraham Lincoln incorporated

3760-435: The description of motion without regard to force . The text developed dynamics in various areas but with constant attention to energy as a unifying principle. A second edition appeared in 1879, expanded to two separately bound parts. The textbook set a standard for early education in mathematical physics . Thomson made significant contributions to atmospheric electricity for the relatively short time for which he worked on

3840-429: The first mathematical development of Michael Faraday 's idea that electric induction takes place through an intervening medium, or " dielectric ", and not by some incomprehensible "action at a distance". He also devised the mathematical technique of electrical images, which became a powerful agent in solving problems of electrostatics , the science which deals with the forces between electrically charged bodies at rest. It

3920-506: The following lines from Alexander Pope 's " An Essay on Man ". These lines inspired Thomson to understand the natural world using the power and method of science: Go, wondrous creature! mount where Science guides; Go measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides; Instruct the planets in what orbs to run, Correct old Time, and regulate the sun; Thomson became intrigued with Joseph Fourier's Théorie analytique de la chaleur ( The Analytical Theory of Heat ) and committed himself to study

4000-752: The laying of the French Atlantic submarine communications cable of 1869, and with Jenkin was engineer of the Western and Brazilian and Platino-Brazilian cables, assisted by vacation student James Alfred Ewing . He was present at the laying of the Pará to Pernambuco section of the Brazilian coast cables in 1873. Thomson's wife, Margaret, died on 17 June 1870, and he resolved to make changes in his life. Already addicted to seafaring, in September he purchased

4080-403: The lead of Thomson and Tait, the branch of topology called knot theory was developed. Thomson's initiative in this complex study that continues to inspire new mathematics has led to persistence of the topic in history of science . Thomson was an enthusiastic yachtsman, his interest in all things relating to the sea perhaps arising from, or fostered by, his experiences on the Agamemnon and

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4160-713: The leadership of Prof. Robert Jameson , the Wernerians first founded Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society (1808–21) and then the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal (1822, Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal from late 1826), thereby diverting the output of the Royal Society's Transactions . Thus, for the first four decades of the 19th century, the RSE's members published articles in two different journals. By

4240-445: The loss cannot be precisely compensated and I think it probable that it is under-compensated. Compensation would require a creative act or an act possessing similar power , resulting in a rejuvenating universe (as Thomson had previously compared universal heat death to a clock running slower and slower, although he was unsure whether it would eventually reach thermodynamic equilibrium and stop for ever ). Thomson also formulated

4320-654: The national academies were established during the early years of the Showa Era . The two premier national academies in the country are the Science Council of Japan and The Japan Academy . Representing the artistic profession and literature is the Japan Art Academy . The Science Council of Japan (SCJ) was founded by American physicist Harry C. Kelly in 1949 during the Allied occupation of Japan as

4400-419: The next 17 years Thomson was distracted by her suffering. On 16 October 1854, George Gabriel Stokes wrote to Thomson to try to re-interest him in work by asking his opinion on some experiments of Faraday on the proposed transatlantic telegraph cable . Faraday had demonstrated how the construction of a cable would limit the rate at which messages could be sent—in modern terms, the bandwidth . Thomson jumped at

4480-412: The problem and published his response that month. He expressed his results in terms of the data rate that could be achieved and the economic consequences in terms of the potential revenue of the transatlantic undertaking. In a further 1855 analysis, Thomson stressed the impact that the design of the cable would have on its profitability. Thomson contended that the signalling speed through a given cable

4560-519: The society's scientific journals, preference being given to a paper containing a discovery. It was awarded alternately for papers on mathematics and those on earth and environmental sciences. The medal was founded in 1827 as a result of a bequest by Alexander Keith of Dunnottar , the first treasurer of the Society. The Lady Margaret Moir Medal recognises exceptional achievements in physical, engineering and informatic sciences (including mathematics) by an early career researcher. Awardees are required to have

4640-465: The subject, around 1859. He developed several instruments for measuring the atmospheric electric field, using some of the electrometers he had initially developed for telegraph work, which he tested at Glasgow and whilst on holiday on Arran. His measurements on Arran were sufficiently rigorous and well-calibrated that they could be used to deduce air pollution from the Glasgow area, through its effects on

4720-555: The vortex atom theory, which purported that an atom was a vortex in the aether , was popular among British physicists and mathematicians. Thomson pioneered the theory, which was distinct from the 17th century vortex theory of René Descartes in that Thomson was thinking in terms of a unitary continuum theory, whereas Descartes was thinking in terms of three different types of matter, each relating respectively to emission, transmission, and reflection of light. About 60 scientific papers were written by approximately 25 scientists. Following

4800-457: The voyage ended after 380 miles (610 km) when the cable parted. Thomson contributed to the effort by publishing in the Engineer the whole theory of the stresses involved in the laying of a submarine communications cable , showing when the line is running out of the ship, at a constant speed in a uniform depth of water, it sinks in a slant or straight incline from the point where it enters

4880-425: The voyages, developed a real engineer's instincts and skill at practical problem-solving under pressure, often taking the lead in dealing with emergencies and being unafraid to assist in manual work. A cable was completed on 5 August. Thomson's fears were realised when Whitehouse's apparatus proved insufficiently sensitive and had to be replaced by Thomson's mirror galvanometer. Whitehouse continued to maintain that it

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4960-407: The water to that where it touches the bottom. Thomson developed a complete system for operating a submarine telegraph that was capable of sending a character every 3.5 seconds. He patented the key elements of his system, the mirror galvanometer and the siphon recorder , in 1858. Whitehouse still felt able to ignore Thomson's many suggestions and proposals. It was not until Thomson convinced

5040-504: The year of Lord Kelvin's birth, used −267 as an estimate of the absolute zero temperature. Thomson used data published by Regnault to calibrate his scale against established measurements. In his publication, Thomson wrote: ... The conversion of heat (or caloric ) into mechanical effect is probably impossible, certainly undiscovered —But a footnote signalled his first doubts about the caloric theory, referring to Joule's very remarkable discoveries . Surprisingly, Thomson did not send Joule

5120-472: The younger members such as James Hall embraced Lavoisier 's new nomenclature and the members split over the practical and theoretical objectives of the society. This resulted in the founding of the Wernerian Society (1808–58), a parallel organisation that focused more upon natural history and scientific research that could be used to improve Scotland's weak agricultural and industrial base. Under

5200-462: Was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer. Born in Belfast, he was the professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, where he undertook significant research and mathematical analysis of electricity, was instrumental in the formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics , and contributed significantly to unifying physics , which

5280-526: Was a teacher of mathematics and engineering at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and the son of a farmer. James Thomson married Margaret Gardner in 1817 and, of their children, four boys and two girls survived infancy. Margaret Thomson died in 1830 when William was six years old. William and his elder brother James were tutored at home by their father while the younger boys were tutored by their elder sisters. James

5360-483: Was able to make a generous provision for his favourite son's education and, in 1841, installed him, with extensive letters of introduction and ample accommodation, at Peterhouse, Cambridge . While at Cambridge, Thomson was active in sports, athletics and sculling , winning the Colquhoun Sculls in 1843. He took a lively interest in the classics, music, and literature; but the real love of his intellectual life

5440-600: Was announced as the society's first female president, taking up her position in October. The Young Academy of Scotland was founded by the RSE in 2011. It aims to bring together young professionals (aged mid-20s to 40s) from the widest range of disciplines and regions in Scotland to provide ideas and direction for challenges facing Scotland. The members are roughly equal numbers of women and men, serve for five years and are selected from applicants every two years. In 2021 there were 134 members. The Royal Society has been housed in

5520-487: Was changed the following year to the Edinburgh Philosophical Society. With the help of University of Edinburgh professors like Joseph Black , William Cullen and John Walker , this society transformed itself into the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1783, and in 1788 it issued the first volume of its new journal Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . Towards the end of the century,

5600-485: Was established by the Board of Trade and the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Most of the blame for the cable's failure was found to rest with Whitehouse. The committee found that, though underwater cables were notorious in their lack of reliability , most of the problems arose from known and avoidable causes. Thomson was appointed one of a five-member committee to recommend a specification for a new cable. The committee reported in October 1863. In July 1865, Thomson sailed on

5680-453: Was founded in 1887 by Robert Halliday Gunning , a Scottish surgeon, entrepreneur and philanthropist who spent much of his life in Brazil. This biennial lecture given at the Society was begun in 1931 at the bequest of Charles Preller and named after himself and his late wife, Rachel Steuart Bruce. It is usually (but not invariably) given by a Fellow either of the Royal Society of Edinburgh or

5760-501: Was his equipment that was providing the service and started to engage in desperate measures to remedy some of the problems. He fatally damaged the cable by applying 2,000 volts . When the cable failed completely Whitehouse was dismissed, though Thomson objected and was reprimanded by the board for his interference. Thomson subsequently regretted that he had acquiesced too readily to many of Whitehouse's proposals and had not challenged him with sufficient vigour. A joint committee of inquiry

5840-470: Was intended to benefit from the major share of his father's encouragement, affection and financial support and was prepared for a career in engineering. In 1832, his father was appointed professor of mathematics at Glasgow , and the family moved there in October 1833. The Thomson children were introduced to a broader cosmopolitan experience than their father's rural upbringing, spending mid-1839 in London, and

5920-428: Was intrigued but sceptical. Though he felt that Joule's results demanded theoretical explanation, he retreated into an even deeper commitment to the Carnot–Clapeyron school. He predicted that the melting point of ice must fall with pressure , otherwise its expansion on freezing could be exploited in a perpetuum mobile . Experimental confirmation in his laboratory did much to bolster his beliefs. In 1848, he extended

6000-602: Was inversely proportional to the square of the length of the cable. Thomson's results were disputed at a meeting of the British Association in 1856 by Wildman Whitehouse , the electrician of the Atlantic Telegraph Company . Whitehouse had possibly misinterpreted the results of his own experiments but was doubtless feeling financial pressure as plans for the cable were already well under way. He believed that Thomson's calculations implied that

6080-444: Was known before his work, Kelvin determined its correct value as approximately −273.15 degrees Celsius or −459.67 degrees Fahrenheit . The Joule–Thomson effect is also named in his honour. Kelvin worked closely with mathematics professor Hugh Blackburn in his work. He also had a career as an electrical telegraph engineer and inventor which propelled him into the public eye and earned him wealth, fame, and honours. For his work on

6160-456: Was partly in response to his encouragement that Faraday undertook the research in September 1845 that led to the discovery of the Faraday effect , which established that light and magnetic (and thus electric) phenomena were related. He was elected a fellow of St. Peter's (as Peterhouse was often called at the time) in June 1845. On gaining the fellowship, he spent some time in the laboratory of

6240-527: Was required to make a presentation. Past winners include: The Lord Kelvin Medal is the Senior Prize for physical, engineering, and informatics sciences. It is awarded annually to a person who has achieved distinction nationally and internationally, and who has contributed to wider society by the accessible dissemination of research and scholarship. Winners receive a silver medal and are required to deliver

6320-436: Was the pursuit of science. The study of mathematics, physics, and in particular, of electricity, had captivated his imagination. In 1845 Thomson graduated as second wrangler . He also won the first Smith's Prize , which, unlike the tripos , is a test of original research. Robert Leslie Ellis , one of the examiners, is said to have declared to another examiner "You and I are just about fit to mend his pens." In 1845, he gave

6400-524: Was then in its infancy of development as an emerging academic discipline. He received the Royal Society 's Copley Medal in 1883 and served as its president from 1890 to 1895. In 1892, he became the first scientist to be elevated to the House of Lords . Absolute temperatures are stated in units of kelvin in Lord Kelvin's honour. While the existence of a coldest possible temperature, absolute zero ,

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