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1 Thomson, Sir William, Lord Kelvin
[br]b. 26 June 1824 Belfast, Ireland (now Northern Ireland)d. 17 December 1907 Largs, Scotland[br]Irish physicist and inventor who contributed to submarine telegraphy and instrumentation.[br]After education at Glasgow University and Peterhouse, Cambridge, a period of study in France gave Thomson an interest in experimental work and instrumentation. He became Professor of Natural Philosophy at Glasgow in 1846 and retained the position for the rest of his career, establishing the first teaching laboratory in Britain.Among his many contributions to science and engineering was his concept, introduced in 1848, of an "absolute" zero of temperature. Following on from the work of Joule, his investigations into the nature of heat led to the first successful liquefaction of gases such as hydrogen and helium, and later to the science of low-temperature physics.Cable telegraphy gave an impetus to the scientific measurement of electrical quantities, and for many years Thomson was a member of the British Association Committee formed in 1861 to consider electrical standards and to develop units; these are still in use. Thomson first became Scientific Adviser to the Atlantic Telegraph Company in 1857, sailing on the Agamemnon and Great Eastern during the cable-laying expeditions. He invented a mirror galvanometer and more importantly the siphon recorder, which, used as a very sensitive telegraph receiver, provided a permanent record of signals. He also laid down the design parameters of long submarine cables and discovered that the conductivity of copper was greatly affected by its purity. A major part of the success of the Atlantic cable in 1866 was due to Thomson, who received a knighthood for his contribution.Other instruments he designed included a quadrant electrostatic voltmeter to measure high voltages, and his "multi-cellular" instrument for low voltages. They could be used on alternating or direct current and were free from temperature errors. His balances for precision current measurement were widely used in standardizing laboratories.Thomson was a prolific writer of scientific papers on subjects across the whole spectrum of physics; between 1855 and 1866 he published some 110 papers, with a total during his life of over 600. In 1892 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Kelvin of Largs. By the time of his death he was looked upon as the "father" of British physics, but despite his outstanding achievements his later years were spent resisting change and progress.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsKnighted 1866. Created Lord Kelvin of Largs 1892. FRS 1851. President, Royal Society 1890–4. An original member of the Order of Merit 1902. President, Society of Telegraph Engineers 1874. President, Institution of Electrical Engineers 1889 and 1907. Royal Society Royal Medal 1856, Copley Medal 1883.Bibliography1872, Reprints of Papers on Electrostatics and Magnetism, London; 1911, Mathematical and Physical Papers, 6 vols, Cambridge (collections of Thomson's papers).Further ReadingSilvanus P.Thompson, 1910, The Life of William Thomson, Baron Kelvin of Largs, 2 vols, London (an uncritical biography).D.B.Wilson, 1987, Kelvin and Stokes: A Comparative Study in Victorian Physics, Bristol (provides a present-day commentary on all aspects of Thomson's work).J.G.Crowther, 1962, British Scientists of the 19th Century, London, pp. 199–257 (a short critical biography).GWBiographical history of technology > Thomson, Sir William, Lord Kelvin
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2 Thomson, James
SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering[br]b. 16 February 1822 Belfast, Ireland (now Northern Ireland)d. 8 May 1892 Glasgow, Scotland[br]Irish civil engineer noted for his work in hydraulics and for his design of the "Vortex" turbine.[br]James Thomson was a pupil in several civil-engineering offices, but the nature of the work was beyond his physical capacity and from 1843 onwards he devoted himself to theoretical studies. Hhe first concentrated on the problems associated with the expansion of liquids when they reach their freezing point: water is one such example. He continued this work with his younger brother, Lord Kelvin (see Thomson, Sir William).After experimentation with a "feathered" paddle wheel as a young man, he turned his attention to water power. In 1850 he made his first patent application, "Hydraulic machinery and steam engines": this patent became his "Vortex" turbine design. He settled in Belfast, the home of the MacAdam-Fourneyron turbine, in 1851, and as a civil engineer became the Resident Engineer to the Belfast Water Commissioners in 1853. In 1857 he was appointed Professor of Civil Engineering and Surveying at Queen's College, Belfast.Whilst it is understood that he made his first turbine models in Belfast, he came to an arrangement with the Williamson Brothers of Kendal to make his turbine. In 1856 Williamsons produced their first turbine to Thomson's design and drawings. This was the Vortex Williamson Number 1, which produced 5 hp (3.7 kW) under a fall of 31 ft (9.4 m) on a 9 in. (23 cm) diameter supply. The rotor of this turbine ran in a horizontal plane. For several years the Williamson catalogue described their Vortex turbine as "designed by Professor James Thomson".Thomson continued with his study of hydraulics and water flow both at Queen's College, Belfast, and, later, at Glasgow University, where he became Professor in 1873, succeeding Macquorn Rankine, another famous engineer. At Glasgow, James Thomson studied the flow in rivers and the effects of erosion on river beds. He was also an authority on geological formations such as the development of the basalt structure of the Giant's Causeway, north of Belfast.James Thomson was an extremely active engineer and a very profound teacher of civil engineering. His form of water turbine had a long life before being displaced by the turbines designed in the twentieth century.[br]Bibliography1850, British patent no. 13,156 "Hydraulic machinery and steam engines".Further ReadingGilkes, 1956, One Hundred Years of Water Power, Kendal.KM -
3 Field, Cyrus West
SUBJECT AREA: Telecommunications[br]b. 30 November 1819 Stockbridge, Massachusetts, USAd. 12 July 1892 New York City, New York, USA[br]American financier and entrepreneur noted for his successful promotion of the first transatlantic telegraph cable.[br]At the age of 15 Field left home to seek his fortune in New York, starting work on Broadway as an errand boy for $1 per week. Returning to Massachusetts, in 1838 he became an assistant to his brother Matthew, a paper-maker, leaving to set up his own business two years later. By the age of 21 he was also a partner in a New York firm of paper wholesalers, but this firm collapsed because of large debts. Out of the wreckage he set up Cyrus W.Field \& Co., and by 1852 he had paid off all the debts. With $250,000 in the bank he therefore retired and travelled in South America. Returning to the USA, he then became involved with the construction of a telegraph line in Newfoundland by an English engineer, F.N. Osborne. Although the company collapsed, he had been fired by the dream of a transatlantic cable and in 1854 was one of the founders of the New York, Newfoundland and London Telegraph Company. He began to promote surveys and hold discussions with British telegraph pioneers and with Isambard Brunel, who was then building the Great Eastern steamship. In 1856 he helped to set up the Atlantic Telegraph Company in Britain and, as a result of his efforts and those of the British physicist and inventor Sir William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), work began in 1857 on the laying of the first transatlantic cable from Newfoundland to Ireland. After many tribulations the cable was completed on 5 August 1857, but it failed after barely a month. Following several unsuccessful attempts to repair and replace it, the cable was finally completed on 27 July 1866. Building upon his success, Field expanded his business interests. In 1877 he bought a controlling interest in and was President of the New York Elevated Railroad Company. He also helped develop the Wabash Railroad and became owner of the New York Mail and Express newspaper; however, he subsequently suffered large financial losses.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsCongressional Gold Medal.Further ReadingA.C.Clarke, 1958, Voice Across the Sea, London: Frederick Muller (describes the development of the transatlantic telegraph).H.M.Field, 1893, Story of the Atlantic Telegraph (also describes the transatlantic telegraph development).L.J.Judson (ed.), 1893, Cyrus W.Field: His Life and Work (a complete biography).KF
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Kelvin, William Thomson, Baron — ▪ Scottish engineer, mathematician, and physicist Introduction in full William Thomson, Baron Kelvin of Largs , also called (1866–92) Sir William Thomson born June 26, 1824, Belfast, County Antrim, Ire. [now in Northern Ireland] died Dec. 17 … Universalium
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