William Thomson Kelvin, 1st Baron
(1824–1907)

William Thomson KelvinAnecdote...

Kelvin worked out an improved method for measuring the depth of the sea, using piano wire and a narrow-bore glass tube, stoppered at the upper end. While experimenting with this invention, he was interrupted one day by his colleague James Prescott Joule. Looking with astonishment at the lengths of piano wire, Joule asked him what he was doing, "Sounding," said Thomson. "What note?" asked Joule. "The deep C," returned Thomson.



Quote-worthy...

When you are face to face with a difficulty, you are up against a discovery. —William Thomson Kelvin


Biographical Note...

Kelvin's tide-predicting machine
Kelvin's tide-predicting machine
Tide predicting machine
by Sir William Thomson in 1876



The accompanying plaque says: this, the first full sized machine for predicting tides, combined ten tidal components (one pulley for each componenet). It could trace the heights of the tides for one year in about four hours.

Disclaimers

British physicist. Professor of natural philosophy at Glasgow for fifty years (1849-99), he was renowned for his work in thermodynamics and as a pioneer of undersea telegraphy. He was knighted in 1866 and raised to the peerage in 1892. The Kelvin temperature scale is named after him; he also made numerous contributions to navigation.


More Information...

READ a short biography of Lord Kelvin.