1824-1907

British Physicist

William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, conducted important work in the areas of thermodynamics and electrical theory. Strongly influenced by the more mathematical French style of physics, Kelvin's own work was heavily mathematical and was influential in encouraging other British physicists to follow this example. Kelvin's work in the study of heat led to the development of the Kelvin scale of temperature, the standard of measurement still used by scientists around the world.

Kelvin was born in Belfast, Ireland. When Kelvin was eight years old, his father, a professor of engineering, accepted a position teaching mathematics at the University of Glasgow, where Kelvin began his studies at age 10. At age 15 Kelvin won a gold medal from the University of Glasgow for his paper, "Essay on the Figure of the Earth."

Kelvin was deeply impressed by the French mathematical approach towards describing...