75-451: John Campbell White may refer to: John Campbell White, 1st Baron Overtoun (1843–1908), Scottish chemicals manufacturer John Campbell White (Irish politician) (died 1923), High Sheriff of Belfast and Lord Mayor of Belfast John Campbell White (diplomat) (1884–1967), American diplomat, US ambassador to Haiti and Peru John Campbell White (United Irishman) (1757–1847), executive member of
150-663: A Glasgow solicitor , in 1867. They had no children. He died at Overtoun House after a short illness in February 1908, aged 65, leaving an estate of £689,022 (equivalent to £90.9 million in 2023 ). The barony died with him. Other than a donation to build a public park which still bears his name , his legacy to the people of Rutherglen and Cambuslang was the huge amount of toxic waste that his chemical works dumped on their doorsteps for more than one hundred years. In 1906 he gifted £5,000 required to purchase land in Dalmuir to create
225-778: 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
300-426: 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
375-665: A cost of more than £100,000. The building housed the Bible Training Institute, the Young Men's Christian Association and Young Men's Christian Club. He also led bible classes at Dumbarton and preached throughout Great Britain. White was a Liberal in politics and served as Chairman of the Dunbartonshire Liberal Association and as a vice-president of the Scottish Liberal Association . When
450-481: 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
525-528: A partner in 1867. After his father's death in 1887 White and his cousin William Chrystal became sole partners in the Shawfield Chemical Works , which was the largest of its kind in the world, employing about 500 men in 1909. The main product was potassium dichromate , known then as bichromate of potash. His nephew H. H. Barrett was later admitted a partner. Lionel Alexander Ritchie, writing in
600-630: A public park in his name – this is nowadays referred to simply as Dalmuir Park. William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (26 June 1824 – 17 December 1907 ) 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,
675-504: 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,
750-426: 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
825-736: A week, and docked his workers' wages if they took time off to go to church. The millions he donated to various charitable causes came at least in part from paying his workers some of the lowest wages in the country. The Labour politician Keir Hardie took an interest in the working conditions of labourers in the chemical industry, and in 1899 exposed conditions at White's works in a series of pamphlets entitled White Slaves , published in The Labour Leader and distributed in their thousands. Safety regulations introduced in 1893 were largely ignored, and workers were forced to operate in unventilated areas without effective protective equipment. So dangerous
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#1732884847439900-517: 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
975-430: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages John Campbell White, 1st Baron Overtoun John Campbell White, 1st Baron Overtoun , DL , JP (21 November 1843 – 15 February 1908) was a Scottish chemical manufacturer, supporter of religious causes, philanthropist and Liberal politician. He was raised to the peerage by Gladstone in 1893, and in 1905
1050-415: 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
1125-524: 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
1200-605: 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
1275-601: 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
1350-514: 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 ,
1425-525: The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , remarks that "He [Baron Overtoun] would be remembered solely for his peerless philanthropy and Christian zeal were it not for the fact that the source of his wealth was a chemical works where the wages and working conditions were scandalous." White led the Sunday Rest and Lord's Day Observance Society, but nevertheless insisted that his employees work seven days
1500-677: 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
1575-779: The United Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 1900 which led to the formation of the United Free Church of Scotland . In 1874 he became strongly influenced by the evangelical preachings of D. L. Moody . After Moody's departure from Great Britain the Glasgow United Evangelistic Association was set up, of which White became president. He was one of the leading powers behind the construction of the Association's building in Bothwell Street, Glasgow, at
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#17328848474391650-459: 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
1725-458: 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
1800-488: The peerage as Baron Overtoun , of Overtoun in the County of Dumbarton . In 1906 his nephew James Dundas White was returned for Dunbartonshire. In 1907 Lord Overtoun was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Dunbartonshire , a post he held until his death the following year. He was also a Deputy Lieutenant for Dunbartonshire and a Justice of the Peace for Dunbartonshire and Lanarkshire . In addition to his nephew, Lord Overtoun
1875-425: 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
1950-606: 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
2025-470: 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
2100-750: 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
2175-515: The Liberal Party split over Irish Home Rule in 1886, he followed William Ewart Gladstone . He declined to stand as the Liberal candidate for Dunbartonshire in 1889 but took an active part in supporting John Sinclair 's candidature in the 1892 general election , in which 50 years of Conservative domination in the constituency was broken. In 1893, on the recommendation of Gladstone, he was raised to
2250-534: The Society of United Irishmen [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Campbell_White&oldid=1074342290 " Category : Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
2325-427: 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
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2400-538: 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
2475-410: 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
2550-633: 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
2625-630: 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
2700-656: 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 ,
2775-476: 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
2850-654: 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
2925-446: 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
3000-454: 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
3075-444: 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
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3150-492: 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
3225-435: 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
3300-437: The existence of a coldest possible temperature, absolute zero , 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
3375-429: 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
3450-506: 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
3525-727: 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
3600-403: 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
3675-445: 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
3750-451: The nascent Labour Party , Keir Hardie , exposed the scandalous working conditions there in a series of pamphlets published in 1899 entitled White Slaves . Lord Overtoun's father, James White of Overtoun (1812–1884) was originally a lawyer, who had left the legal profession to join John & James White, chemical manufacturers, a firm founded by his father and uncle at Rutherglen in 1810. He
3825-419: 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
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#17328848474393900-412: 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
3975-475: The public eye and earned him wealth, fame, and honours. For his work on 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
4050-514: The skin, sometimes even penetrating as deep as the bone. The public scandal facing White, along with an increasingly active trade union movement, forced White in 1901 to start the construction of new buildings for baths, lavatories, dining and cloakroom facilities. White was a supporter of the Free Church of Scotland , and donated a mission hall in Dumbarton . He was greatly involved in the union with
4125-460: 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
4200-555: 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
4275-452: 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
4350-425: 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
4425-407: 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
4500-504: 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
4575-512: 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
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#17328848474394650-475: 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
4725-539: Was also connected to the intelligence agent and 1950s MP for Rutherglen , Richard Brooman-White , although not a blood relative: the 'White' suffix of the surname was added by Boorman's grandfather (also Richard) upon inheriting the country estate at Arddarroch, Loch Long (today part of the Finnart Oil Terminal facilities) from his stepfather - John White (1810-1881), Lord Overtoun's uncle. Lord Overtoun married Grace Eliza McClure, daughter of James H. McClure,
4800-478: Was chief administrator of the fund set up for the sufferers of the City of Glasgow Bank collapse in 1878. After his death, citizens of Glasgow erected a statue of him at Cathedral Square, Glasgow . John White was born at Hayfield , near Rutherglen , Lanarkshire , the only son of James White by Fanny Campbell, daughter of Alexander Campbell, Sheriff of Renfrewshire , of Barnhill, Dunbartonshire . He had six sisters. He
4875-494: Was educated at Stow's Academy, Glasgow, and at the University of Glasgow . He won prizes in logic and natural philosophy . He came into close contact with William Thomson , the future Lord Kelvin, and worked in his laboratory for a year. White graduated in 1864, and worked for a year for his uncle's company, Mackenzie & Aitken, accountants, and then for a year and a half for Leisler, Bock & Co, continental merchants. He then joined his father's business, of which he became
4950-535: 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
5025-523: Was granted the Freedom of the City of Rutherglen (where his chemical works was based), following being honoured in the same fashion by Dumbarton two years earlier, in recognition of his philanthropic endeavours. White's persona as a generous and committed Scottish Presbyterian was at odds with his exploitation of the workers at his Shawfield Chemical Works, the source of his great wealth. Politician and leader of
5100-501: 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
5175-595: Was instrumental in the formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics , and contributed significantly to unifying physics , which 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
5250-466: 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
5325-428: 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
5400-582: 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
5475-451: 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
5550-436: 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
5625-461: Was the toxic dust to which they were exposed that they were known locally as "White's Dead Men". In response to the various claims about working conditions Thomas Legge , the first Medical Inspector of Factories, visited White's chemical works and others. His report published in 1900 concluded that 83 per cent of workers in chrome factories suffered from a perforated or ulcerated septum , and 22 per cent from unhealed chrome holes, deep ulcerations of
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