Professor William Thomson, c mid-20th century

William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, born 26 June 1907, died 17 December 1907, was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist, and engineer. Thomson was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, before studying at the University of Glasgow from age 10. Thomson then moved to finish his studies at Peterhouse, Cambridge in 1841. Thomson worked at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, undertaking key research into mathematical analysis of electricity, and was critical in the formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Thomson received the Copley Medal in 1883, and later served as the Royal Society's president from 1890 to 1895. He was elevated to the House of Lords in 1892, as the first scientist to do so, for his work in thermodynamics and opposition to Irish Home Rule, becoming 1st Baron Kelvin. The temperature scale of Kelvin is named in his honour. In 1904, he became Chancellor of the University of Glasgow. He received many honours and awards in his life, including Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1847), and was its president 1873-1878, 1886-1890, 1895-1907. He was knighted in 1866. Thomson is buried in Westminster Abbey, next to Isaac Newton.