Thomson, Sir William, 1824-1907 (1st Baron Kelvin | mathematical physicist and Professor of Natural Philosophy, University of Glasgow 1846-1899)
Person
Biography
Sir William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824-1907) was an eminent mathematical physicist and scholar, accredited with establishing an absolute scale of temperature, known as the Kelvin Scale. He specialised in research in mechanical energy and heat, resulting in the invention of the Kelvin Compass, the sounding machine, and his work on the Trans-Atlantic telegraph cable. He was the first British scientist to be awarded a peerage and to sit in the House of Lords, becoming Baron Kelvin of Largs in 1892. He was president of The Royal Society (1890-1895), and was hailed as a "Prince of Science" on an American tour (Editorial, The Sun, New York, April 20 1902) for his innovations. Knighted in 1866, Thomson became the first scientist to be elevated to the peerage when he was created Baron Kelvin of Largs in 1892. He died at his home in Ayrshire and was buried in Westminster Abbey on 23 December 1907.
Found in 5 Collections and/or Records:
Archibald Geikie, correpondence
Series
Identifier: Coll-1815/2
Scope and Contents
Letters to Sir Archibald Geike from: Hicks, Henry (25 Oct. 1887); Hooker, Joseph Dalton (Sir) (May 1890); Horne, John (5 Jun. 1898); Huxley, Thomas Henry (17 May 1862); Kidston, Robert (3 Aug. 1883); Lapworth, Charles (Sir) (16 Nov. 1898); Lyell, Charles (Sir) (31 Mar. 1860); Marcou, Jules (5 Jan. 1871); Marcon, Jules (30 Apr. 1878); Milne, John (15 Aug. 1895); Peach, Benjamin Neve (19 Oct. 1898); Prestwich, Joseph (Sir) (15 May 1892?); Scrope, G. Poulett (1866?); Sorby, Henry...
Dates:
Majority of material found within 1840s-1940s
Correspondence: GA Le Bel to G De Lorenzo, 1869-1914
Sub-Series
Identifier: Coll-74/12/12
Scope and Contents
The Correspondence: Albert Auguste de Lapparent to Charles Lapworth sub-series consists of:
- 36 letters, alphabetically arranged (1869-1914)
Dates:
1869-1914
Correspondence: Sir John Stuart Keltie to Herbert Kynaston, 1867-1916
Sub-Series
Identifier: Coll-74/12/9
Scope and Contents
The Correspondence: Sir John Stuart Keltie to Herbert Kynaston sub-series consists of:
- 24 letters, alphabetically arranged (1867-1916)
Dates:
1867-1916
Letter to Sir Charles Lyell from James Croll, 6 March 1866
Item
Identifier: Coll-203/1 folio(s) 610
Scope and Contents
Letter to Sir Charles Lyell from James Croll concerning the view of "the most eminent physicist that Scotland Possesses", Lord Kelvin, that a paper by Mr (Douglas) Heath is full of glaring errors and that Croll expects the Philosophical Magazine for the following month to have something further on the subject, 6 March 1866.
Dates:
6 March 1866
Notebook No.254, August 1868-1 March 1869
Item — Box: Lyell-temp-box 9
Identifier: Coll-203/A1/254
Scope and Contents
This dark red Notebook starts in Lond with Mary Elizabeth Lyell and Leonard Lyell, and documents travels in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with an index created by Arabella Buckley. He studies submerged forests, beaches, caves and iron works making notes and sketches, and referencing experts as well as local guides. Several meetings 'with Darwin'. Final pages relate to Grindle Pit, Bury St Edmunds, with sections written by Buckley that appear to be dictated by Lyell. ...
Dates:
August 1868-1 March 1869