Thomson Lord Kelvin, William
William Thomson was born in Belfast in the family of a teacher of mathematics. When William was eight years old, the family moved to Glasgow, which was subsequently the life and labor of the famous physics. The gifted boy has become a student of the University of Glasgow in the Ten-year-old age. After graduating from the University of Glasgow, Thomson entered the University of Cambridge, after which, after the end of which, on the council of his father, went to Paris to internship in the laboratory of the famous French physicist-experimentator A. Reno. Soon the young student published his first work on the theory of thermal conductivity. Thomson becomes a professor in Glasgow and takes the department until 1899, for fifty-three years.
W. Thomson possessed a large pedagogical talent and perfectly combined theoretical training with practical. His lectures on physics were accompanied by demonstrations, to which Thomson was widely attracted by students, which stimulated the interest of students.
At the University of Glasgow, W. Thomson created a physical laboratory in which many original scientific research was made, and which played a large role in the development of physical science. Initially, the laboratory is juting in the former lecture rooms, the old abandoned wine basement and part of the old professorship. In 1870, the University moved to a new magnificent building, in which spacious laboratory facilities were provided. Thomson's department and the House of Thomson were first in Britain covered with electricity. Between the university and master of White, in which physical instruments were manufactured, the first telephone line in the country was operated. The workshops went into the factory in several floors, essentially a branch of the laboratory.
Thomson's scientific interests circle included thermodynamics, hydrodynamics, electromagnetism, the theory of elasticity, heat, mathematics, technique. Thomson's student published several articles on the use of Fourier series to various sections of physics. Increased in Paris, developed a method for solving the tasks of electrostatics, called the "Mirror Image" method (1846). Having become acquainted with the Carno Theorem, expressed the idea of \u200b\u200ban absolute thermodynamic scale (1848).
In 1851, W. Thomson formulated (regardless of R. Clausius) 2nd the beginning of thermodynamics. In his work, "On the dynamic theory of heat" set out a new point of view on heat, according to which "the heat is not a substance, but a dynamic form of a mechanical effect." Therefore, "there must be some equivalence between mechanical work and warmth." Thomson indicates that this principle, "apparently, for the first time ... was openly proclaimed in the work of Yu. Mayer" Comments on the forces of inanimate nature. " Further, he mentions the work of J. Joule, which studied the numerical ratio, "binding heat and mechanical force".
Thomson argues that the whole theory of the driving force of warmth is based on two positions, of which the first goes back to the joyle and is formulated as follows: "In all cases, when equal amounts of mechanical work are obtained by any way, it is possible exclusively at the expense of heat or are spent exclusively. At the receipt of thermal actions, equal amounts of heat are always lost or acquired. "
The second position Thomson formulates this way: "If any machine is arranged in such a way that when it is working in the opposite direction, all mechanical and physical processes are transformed into opposite in any part of its movement, then it produces exactly so much mechanical work as it could produce The score of the specified amount of heat is any thermodynamic machine with the same temperature sources of heat and refrigerators. "
This position Thomson builds to S. Karno and R. Clausius and justifies the following axiom: "It is impossible with the help of an inanimate material figure to obtain from any mass of the substance mechanical work by cooling it below the temperature of the coldest of the surrounding items." To this wording, which is called the Tomson formulation of the second start, Thomson makes the following note: "If we were not recognized by this axiom of valid at all temperatures, we would have to assume that you can put into action an automatic machine and getting a mechanical cooling In any quantity, right up to the exhaustion of the entire heat of sushi and the sea or in the end of the entire material world. " The "Automatic Machine" described in this note began to be called Perpetuum Mobile 2nd.
In addition to work on thermodynamics, Thomson laid the foundations of the theory of electromagnetic oscillations and in 1853 brought the formula for the dependence of the period of own oscillations of the circuit on its capacity and inductance (Thomson formula). In 1856, he opened the third thermoelectric effect - the Thomson effect (the first two - the occurrence of thermo-emf and the release of the heat of Peltier), which consisted in highlighting the so-called. "Tomson heat" when current flow through a conductor in the presence of a temperature gradient. Of great importance in the formation of atomistic representations was produced by Thomson calculation of the dimensions of molecules based on measuring the surface energy of the liquid film. In 1870, he established the dependence of the elasticity of a saturated steam on the form of the liquid surface.
Thomson made a great contribution to the development of practical applications of different sections of science. He was the main scientific consultant when laying first transatlantic cables. Constructed a number of accurate electrometric devices: "Cable" galvanometer, quadrant and absolute electrometers, a siphon-mark for receiving telegraph signals. Suggested using stranded wires from copper wire.
Work on the laying of the transatlantic cable awakened in Tomson interest in navigation. The scientist created an improved marine compass with the compensation of the magnetism of the Youth Corps of the vessel, invented the echo sounder of continuous action, the Mareographer (the device for registering the water level in the sea or the river). Thomson studies are known for thermal conductivity, work on the theory of tides, the propagation of waves on the surface, according to the theory of vortex motion.
In 1892, W. Thomson for his great scientific merit was awarded the title of Baron Kelvin (named Kelvin's river flowing near the university in Glasgow). Thomson wrote a huge number of work on experimental and theoretical physics. The fifty-year-old anniversary of his scientific activity in 1896 was noted physics of the whole world. At the honors of Thomson, representatives of different countries participated, including the Russian physicist N. A. Melov; In 1896, Thomson was elected an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In honor of William Thomson, a unit of measurement of absolute temperature is named - Kelvin.
Sources:
1. Kudryavtsev P.S. Course of the history of physics. M.: Enlightenment, 1982. - 448 p.
2. Big Soviet Encyclopedia. At 30 tt.
Chronology of events and discoveries in chemistry:
"If you can measure what you are talking about, and express it in numbers - it means that you know something about this. But if you cannot express it quantitatively, your knowledge is extremely limited and unsatisfactory. Maybe this is the initial stage, but this is not a level of genuine scientific knowledge ..."
W. Thomson (Lord Kelvin)
Scientist, whose name wears an absolute thermodynamic scale of temperatures, Lord Kelvin, was a versatile man, in the circle of scientific interests of which the thermodynamics is known (in particular, it owns two formulations of the second principle of thermodynamics), hydrodynamics, dynamic geology, electromagnetism, theory of elasticity, mechanics and mathematics . The studies of the scientist on thermal conductivity, work on the theory of tides, the propagation of waves on the surface, according to the theory of vortex motion. But he was not just a theoretical scientist. "The man of science is separated from the productive work of the whole precipice, and the science instead of serving in the hands of the workforce to increase his own productive force, almost everywhere opposes himself to him." - the scientist said. His contribution to the development of practical applications of different sections of science is difficult to overestimate . In the 1850s, a scientist who was interested in telegraph issues was the main scientific consultant when laying the first cables of the telegraph connection across the Atlantic Ocean. Designed a number of accurate electrometric instruments: "Cable" mirrored galvanometer, quadrant and absolute electrometers, an ondulator-mark for receiving telegraph Ink Signals, Ampere-Scales used to reconcile electrical appliances, and much more, as well as suggested using stranded wires from copper wire. The scientist has created an improved marine compass with the compensation of the magnetism of the Iron Corps of the vessel, invented a continuous echo sounder Actions, Mareographer (device for registering water level in the sea or river). Between the set of patents taken by this ingenious designer, there are those and purely practical devices (such as water taps). Truly talented man talented in everything.
William Thomson (just such as the real name of this famous scientist), was born exactly 190 years ago, on June 26, 1824, in Belfast (Northern Ireland) in the family of mathematics teacher at the Royal Academic Institute of Belfast, the author of a number of textbooks, withstood dozens of publications, Geems Thomson, whose ancestors were Irish farmers. In 1817, he married Margaret Gardner. Their marriage was more familiar (four boys and two girls). The eldest son, James, and William brought up in the house of the Father, and the younger boys were given to the upbringing of the oldest sisters. It is not surprising that Thomson-senior took care of a worthy education of his sons. At first, he paid more attention to James, but soon it became clear that the weak health of the eldest son would not allow him to get a good education, and his father focused on the upbringing of William.br /\u003e
When William was 7 years old, the family moved to Glasgow (Scotland), where his father received the Department of Mathematics and the position of Professor. Glasgow was subsequently the place of life and labor of the famous physics. Already at the age of eight years, William began to attend lectures of his father, and at 10 years old became a college student in Glasgow, where he studied with his elder brother James. A great role in the formation of the young people of scientific interests was played by John Nikol, a well-known Scottish astronomer and a popularizer of science who worked at the university since 1839. He watched the best achievements of science and tried to acquaint his students with them. At the age of sixteen, William read the book Fourier "Analytical theory of heat", which, essentially, defined the program of his research for life.
After graduating from College, Thomson went on studies in St. Peter College in Cambridge, which published several articles on the use of Fourier series to various sections of physics and in a wonderful study "The Uniform Motion of Heat in Homogeneous Solid and Its Connection with The Mathematic Theory of Electricity" ("The Cambridge Math. Journ.", 1842) conducted important analogies between heat and electric current distribution phenomena and showed how to solve issues from one of these areas to apply to questions in another area. In another study, "The Linear Motion of Heat" (1842, IBID.) Thomson developed principles, which then fruitfully attached to many issues of dynamic geology, for example, to the issue of cooling the Earth. In one of the early letters to the Tomson, he writes how he plans his time: to get up at 5 am and regret the fireplace; read up to 8 h 15 min; visit the daily lecture; read up to 1 h day; do exercises up to 4 h in the evening; Visit the church to 7 h in the evening; read up to 8 h 30 min; Go to bed at 9 h. Such a schedule illustrates the preserved desire to minimize the barren spending time. It must be said that William Thomson was a comprehensively developed young man, he was engaged in sports, even entered the command of Cambridge on academic rowing and, together with his comrades, she won the students of Oxford in the famous race held since 1829. Thomson also dismantled in music and literature. But all these hobbies he preferred classes in science, and here his interests were also distinguished by a variety.
In 1845, after graduating from Cambridge, having received a diploma of the second Rankler and the Smith Prize, William on the advice of his father went to Paris to be internship in the laboratory of the famous French physicist-experimentator Henri Victor Reno (1810-1878). At the same time, in Joseph Liouville, Thomson publishes a number of articles on electrostatics, which sets out its method of electrical images, subsequently called "method of mirror images", who has given an opportunity to simply solve many of the most difficult tasks of electrostatics.
While Thomson studied in Cambridge, events that determined his future career took place in Glasgow. When Thomson ended the first course of Cambridge in 1841, a professor of genuine philosophy of the University of Glasgow William Maikham became seriously ill. It was clear that he could not return to work. 1842 passed, but there was no obvious candidate for free space in Glasgow, and then Thomson-senior realized that his son William, who had just been 18 years old, could well participate in the competition for this place. On September 11, 1846, 22-year-old Thomson secret ballot was elected to the post of Professor of natural philosophy at the University of Glasgow. He kept his post until 1899, not seduced by even the post of Head of the Cavendyshevian Department in Cambridge, which was offered to him three times in the 1870s and 1880s. The first lecture as a professor at the University in Glasgow Thomson, he read on November 4, 1846. In it, he gave an introductory review of all sections of physics for students who recorded a course of genuine philosophy. In a letter to Stokesus Thomson confessed that the first lecture was a failure. He fully recorded her and worried her all the time, he read too fast. But it did not prevent you from using the same post next year and further every year for fifty years, with different insertions, amendments and improvements. Students adored their famous professor, although his ability to instantly think, see ties and analogies, put many in a dead end, especially when Thoroson expressed such reasoning in the lecture.
In 1847, at the meeting of the British Association of Naturalists in Oxford Thomson met with James Joule. During the previous four years, Joule declared this annual meetings that the heat is not, as they were even believed, some substance (heatborne) propagating from one body to another. Joule expressed the conviction that the heat is actually the result of the oscillations of the components of the atoms. Having studied how the gas is compressed when cooled, Joule suggested that no substance can be cooled below the temperature of 284 ° C (later, as we know, this figure was clarified by Thomson). In addition, Joule demonstrated the equivalence of work and heat, conducting experiments to determine the equivalent amount of mechanical work required to heat one pound of water by 1 ° F. He even argued that the temperature of the water at the base of the waterfall is higher than at the top. Joule's speeches at the British Association meetings were perceived with boredom and distrust. But everything has changed at a meeting in Oxford in 1847. After all, Tomson was sitting in the hall. He was delighted with what Joule said, began to ask a lot of questions and provoked a hot debate. True, Thomson suggested that the Joule could be wrong. In a letter to brother after the Tomson meeting, I wrote: "I am sending the work of Joule, which you will have. I had little time to figure them out in detail. It seems to me that now there are many more flaws in them. But Joule was not mistaken, and Thomson after a long rapidly agreed with him. Moreover, he managed to tie the ideas of Joule with the work of the Sadi Carno on thermal machines. At the same time, he managed to find a more general way to determine the absolute zero temperature, independent of a particular substance. That is why the fundamental base unit of temperature received the name of Kelvin later. In addition, Thomson realized that the law of energy conservation is a great unifying principle of science, and introduced the concept of "static" and "dynamic" energy, which we now, respectively, call the kinetic and potential energies.
In 1848, Tomson introduced " absolute thermometric scale"He explained her name as follows:" For this scale is characterized by complete independence from the physical properties of a particular substance". He notes that" the endless cold must correspond to the final number of the degrees of the air thermometer below zero", namely: point," appropriate air volume reduced to zero, which will be marked on the scale as -273 ° C".
Since 1849, Thomson works on thermodynamics printed in the publications of the Royal Society in Edinburgh are beginning. In the first of these works, Thomson, leaning on Joule's research, indicates how to change the principle of carno, set out in the essay of the last "Réflexions Sur La Puissance Machines Propres à Développer Cette Puissance" (1824), in order to The principle agreed with modern data; This famous work contains one of the first formulations of the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
Since 1851, Thomson publishes the cycle of scientific articles under the general name "On the dynamic theory of heat", in which he considers (regardless of R. Clausius) the first and second laws of thermodynamics. At the same time, he is once again returning to the problem of absolute temperature, noting that " temperatures of two bodies are proportional to the amount of heat, respectively, and given to the material system in two places having these temperatures when the system performs a full cycle of ideal reversible processes and is protected from loss or reduction of heat at any other temperature"In his work" On the dynamic theory of heat "set out a new point of view on heat, according to which" heat is not a substance, but a dynamic form of mechanical effect. " Therefore, "there must be some equivalence between mechanical work and warmth" Thomson indicates that this principle " apparently, for the first time ... was openly proclaimed in the work of Yu. Mayer "Comments on the forces of inanimate nature" Next, he mentions the work of J. Joule, who studied the numerical ratio, " binding warmth and mechanical force" Thomson argues that the whole theory of the driving force of the warmth is based on two positions, of which the first goes back to Joule and is formulated as follows: " In all cases, when equal amounts of mechanical work are obtained in any way there can be exclusively at the expense of heat or are spent solely on obtaining thermal actions, equal amounts of heat are always lost or acquired." The second position Thomson formulates this: "If any machine is arranged in such a way that when it is working in the opposite direction, all mechanical and physical processes are converted into opposite in any part of its movement, then it produces exactly so much mechanical work, how much could produce any thermodynamic heat due to the specified amount of heat Machine with the same temperature sources of heat and refrigerators" This position Thomson builds to S. Carno and R. Clausius and justifies the following axiom: " It is impossible with the help of an inanimate material figure to obtain from any mass of the substance mechanical work by cooling it below the temperature of the coldest of the surrounding items" To this wording, which is called Tomson formulation of the second start, Thomson makes the following note: " If we did not recognize this axiom of valid at all temperatures, we would have to assume that you can put into action an automatic machine and getting a mechanical work in any quantity by cooling the sea, right up to the exhaustion of all heat and sea heat or in the end material world" The "Automatic Machine" described in this note began to be called Perpetuum Mobile 2nd. Based on the open law of thermodynamics and applying it to the Universe as a whole, came (1852) to the erroneous conclusion about the inevitability of the "thermal death of the Universe" (the hypothesis of the thermal death of the Universe). The illegality of such an approach and the fallacy of the hypothesis proved L. Bolzman.
In the same year, at the age of 27, Thomson became a member of the London Royal Society - the British Academy of Sciences. In 1852, Thomson, together with English physicist James Joule, conducts a well-known study on the cooling of gases when expanding without working, which served as a transitional step on the theory of ideal gases to the theory of real gases. They found that with the adiabatic (without the inflow of energy from outside) the passage of gas through the porous partition, its temperature decreases. This phenomenon was called the "Joule-Thomson effect". At about the same time, Thomson developed a thermodynamic theory of thermoelectric phenomena.
In 1852, the scientist married Margaret Kralim, in which he was in love with childhood. He was happy, but happiness, unfortunately, did not last long. Already during the honeymoon, Margaret's health deteriorated sharply. The next 17 years of Thomson's life were overshadowed by constant alarms for the health of the spouses, and almost all his free time the scientist devoted to care for her.
In addition to the work on thermodynamics, Thomson was engaged in the study of electromagnetic phenomena. So, in 1853 he published an article "On the transient electric currents", laying the foundations of the theory of electromagnetic oscillations. Considering the change in the time of the electric charge of a spherical body when it is connected by a thin conductor (wire) with the ground, Thomson found that at the same time there are decaying oscillations with certain characteristics, depending on the body's electrical capacity, conductor resistance and electrodynamic containers. Subsequently, the formula reflecting the dependence of the period of free oscillations in the circuit without resistance from the specified quantities was called "Thomson's formula" (although he himself did not withdraw this formula).
Finally, in 1855 the scientist combined two spheres of his scientific interests and began to explore thermoelectric processes. He developed a thermodynamic theory of thermoelectric phenomena. Many such phenomena have already been known, some opened Thomson himself. In 1856, he opened the third thermoelectric effect - the Thomson effect (the first two - the occurrence of thermo-emf and the release of the heat of Peltier), which consisted in highlighting the so-called. "Tomson heat" when current flow through a conductor in the presence of a temperature gradient. The most amazing thing that Thomson did not experimentally implemented this discovery, and predicted it on the basis of his theory. And this is at a time when scientists have not even had more or less correct ideas about the nature of the electric current! Of great importance in the formation of atomistic representations was produced by Thomson calculation of the dimensions of molecules based on measuring the surface energy of the liquid film. In 1870, he established the dependence of the elasticity of a saturated steam on the form of the liquid surface.
Thomson was closely connected with other physicist of Irish origin George Gabriel Stokes. They met in Cambridge and remained close friends to the end of their lives, exchanging more than 650 letters. A significant part of their correspondence concerns research in mathematics and physics. Their minds complemented each other, and in some cases, thoughts were so united, that none could say (and did not care about it), who was the first to express some idea. Perhaps the most famous example is the Stokes theorem from the vector analysis, which allows you to transform integrals along a closed contour into the integrals along the surface stretched to this contour, and vice versa. This theorem was actually formulated in a letter from Thomson to Stokesa, so it would have to be called "Thomson Theorem".
In the fifties, Thomson became interested in the issue of transatlantic telegraph; The first pioneers encouraged by the first pioneers, Thomson theoretically examines the question of the spread of electrical pulses along the cables and comes to the conclusions of the greatest practical importance, which gave the opportunity to carry out telegraphs through the ocean. Along the way, Thomson removes the conditions for the existence of an oscillatory electrical discharge (1853), newly found later by Kirchhof (1864) and lightening in the foundation of all the teachings about electrical oscillations. The expedition for laying cable acquaintances Thomson with the needs of the sea and leads to the improvement of the lot and compass (1872-1876). He created and patented a new compass, more stable than those who existed at the time and eliminating the deviation associated with the steel corps of ships. First, the Admiralty took the invention skeptically. On the conclusion of one of the commissions, "the compass is too gentle and certainly very fragile." In response, Thomson threw the compass into the room where the commission was having met and the compass was not damaged. The Fleet authorities were finally convinced of the strength of a new compass, and in 1888 he was adopted by the entire fleet. Thomson also invented the mechanical predictor of the tide time and created a new echo sounder, with which it was possible to quickly determine the depth under the vessel and, more importantly, to do it on the ship's go.
The views of William Thomson on the thermal history of the Earth are equally well-known. His interest in this question was awakened in 1844, when he was still a junior course student in Cambridge. Later he was repeatedly returned to him that in the end led him to conflict with other well-known scientists, including John Tyndalle, Thomas Huxley and Charles Darwin. This can be seen from Darwin's review about Thomson, as about the "Gnus Ghost", and a preaching dust of Huxley, who put forward an evolutionary theory as an alternative to religious beliefs. Thomson was a Christian, but he did not care about the protection of literal interpretation of the details of the creation, he, for example, gladly reasoned on the theme that life on the land was made by a meteorite. However, Thomson always defended and promoted a good science all his life. He believed that geology and evolutionary biology were weakly developed compared to physics based on strict mathematics. In fact, many physicists of that time did not believed that geology and biology are sciences at all. To assess the age of the earth, William Thomson used the methods of their favorite Fourier. It calculated how much time it took to cool the molten globe to the state with the present temperature. In 1862, William Thomson rated the age of the Earth in 100 million years, but in 1899 revised the calculations and reduced the figure to 20-40 million years. Biologists and geologists needed a hundred times the big figure. The discrepancy between theories was permitted only at the beginning of the twentieth century, when Ernest Rutherford realized that the radioactivity of rocks ensures the internal heating mechanism of the Earth, slowing down cooling. This process leads to an increase in the age of the Earth compared to the predicted Thomson. Modern estimates give a value of at least 4600 million years. The discovery in 1903 of the law connecting with the radioactive decay release of heat energy, did not prompted it to change its own estimates of the age of the sun. But, since radioactivity was open when Thomson overstated a 70-year-old frontier, it can excuse him for not taking into account her role in the studies that began at the 20th age.
W. Thorson possessed a large pedagogical talent and perfectly combined theoretical training with practical. His lectures on physics were accompanied by demonstrations, to which Thomson was widely attracted by students, which stimulated the interest of students. At the University of Glasgow, W. Thomson created the first physical laboratory in the UK, in which many original scientific research was made, and which played a large role in the development of physical science. Initially, the laboratory is juting in the former lecture rooms, the old abandoned wine basement and part of the old professorship. In 1870, the University moved to a new magnificent building, in which spacious laboratory facilities were provided. Thomson's department and the House of Thomson were first in Britain covered with electricity. Between the university and master of White, in which physical instruments were manufactured, the first telephone line in the country was operated. The workshops went into the factory in several floors, essentially a branch of the laboratory.
It is said that one day Lord Kelvin was forced to cancel his lecture and wrote on the blackboard "Professor Tomson Will Not Meet His Classes Today" ("Professor Thomson will not be able to meet today with his students"). Students decided to swallow over the professor and erased the letter "C" in the word "classes". The next day, seeing the inscription, Thomson was not confused, erased another letter in the same word, silently left. (Words game: Classes - classes, students; lasses - mistresses, asses - donkeys.)
On June 17, 1870, Margaret died. After that, the scientist decided to change his life, more time to devote to rest, he even bought Schoon, which was performed walking with friends and colleagues. In the summer of 1873, Thomson headed another expedition on the cable laying. Due to damage to the cable, the crew was forced to make a 16-day stop on Madeira, where the scientist became friends with the Charles Blandy family, especially with Fanny - one of his daughters, who married the next year.
In addition to scientific, teaching and engineering activities, William Thomson performed many honorary duties. Three times (1873-1878, 1886-1890, 1895-1907) he was elected by the President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, from 1890 to 1895 he headed the London Royal Society. In 1884 he traveled to the United States, where he read a series of lectures. Thomson's extraordinary merits in clean and applied science were quite rated by his contemporaries. In 1866, William received a noble title, and in 1892 the Queen of Victoria for his scientific merit suggested him with the title "Baron Kelvin" (by the name of Kelvin's river flowing in Glasgow). Unfortunately, William became not only the first, but also the last Baron Kelvin - his second marriage, as well as the first, turned out to be childless. The fifty-year-old anniversary of his scientific activity in 1896 was noted physics of the whole world. At the honors of Thomson, representatives of different countries participated, including the Russian physicist N. A. Melov; In 1896, Thomson was elected an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In 1899, Kelvin left the department in Glasgow, although he did not stop doing science.
At the very end of the XIX century, April 27, 1900, Lord Kelvin read the famous lecture at the Royal Institute about the crisis of the dynamic theory of light and heat entitled "Tuchi of the nineteenth century above the dynamic theory of heat and light." In it, he said: "The beauty and clarity of the dynamic theory, according to which heat and light are the forms of movement, are currently darkened by two clouds. The first of them ... This is a question: how can the earth move through an elastic environment, which is essentially a light-base Ether? The second is the doctrine of Maxwell-Boltzmann about the distribution of energy. " Discussion of the first question Lord Kelvin completed the words: "I am afraid that we should consider the first cloud to be considered as very dark." Most of the lecture was devoted to the difficulties associated with the assumption of the uniform distribution of energy in the degrees of freedom. This issue was widely discussed in those years due to insurmountable contradictions in the question of the spectral distribution of absolutely black bodies. Summing up the fruitless search for the path of overcoming contradictions, Lord Kelvin is quite pessimistic that the simplest path is simply not to pay attention to the existence of this cloud. The insight of the masted physics was amazing: he precisely sold down two painful points in modern science. A few months later, in recent days of the XIX century, M. Plunk published his solution to the problem of radiation of absolutely black body, introducing the concept of quantum character of radiation and light absorption, and in five years, in 1905, A. Einstein published a job " Electrodynamics of moving bodies ", in which the private theory of relativity was formulated and gave a negative answer to the question of the existence of the ether. Thus, the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics were hidden in the sky of physics - the fundamental basics of today's physics were hidden.
The last years of the life of Lord Kelvin were the time of appearance in physics much fundamentally new. The era of classical physics, one of the brightest figures of which he was climbed by completion. Already there was a quantum and relativistic era, and he did steps towards her: he was vividly interested in X-rays and radioactivity, he fulfilled calculations to determine the size of molecules, put forward a hypothesis about the structure of atoms and actively supported J.J. Thomson's research in this direction . However, it was not without incident. Back in 1896, he skeptically perceived the news about the opening of the Wilhelm by the X-ray by the X-ray, allowing to see the inner structure of the human body, calling it the news exaggerated, similar to a well-planned hoax and requiring a thorough check. And a year before that, he stated: "Imputatory air vehicles are impossible." In 1897, Kelvin noted that the radio had no prospects.
Lord William Kelvin died on December 17, 1907 at the age of 83 in Largs (Scotland), not far from Glasgow. The merits in front of the science of this king of the physicists of the Victorian era are indisputably great, and his dust is rightfully resting in Westminster Abbey next to the ashes of Isaac Newton. After it, 25 books left, 660 scientific articles and 70 inventions. In "Biogr.-Litter. HandwöterBuch Poggendorffa "(1896) The list of about 250 articles (except for books) belonging to Thomson is provided.
BIOGRAPHY.
The one who later became Lord Kelvin, called William Thomson. He was born on June 26, 1824 in Belfast (Northern Ireland) in the family of a professor of engineering. When the boy was seven years old, the family moved to Glasgow (Scotland), where his father received the Department of Mathematics at the University. William remained early without her mother, and his father was engaged in the upbringing of his and her older brother, who used them with great respect.
Father's lectures at the University of William began to visit at eight years, and at ten he was already a full student. In the Guinness Book of Records, William Thomson, noted as the youngest student in history - he began to occupy at the University of Glasgow in October 1834 at the age of 10 years 4 months, and on November 14 of the same year he was enrolled by a student.
Having finished learning to Glasgow, the seventeen-year-old young man entered the University of Cambridge with a specialization in mathematics. After graduating from the university in 1845, on the Council of Father, William rides in Paris for internship in the field of physics of thermal phenomena. The attention of a young scientist also attracts an analogy between the description of electrostatic and thermal phenomena. This interest in electric and thermodynamics the scientist has retained for life.
Upon returning from France, Thomson occupies the Department of Natural Philosophy (Theoretical Physics) of the University of Glasgow, where it works until 1899, within fifty-three years. Since 1904, Thomson - President of the University.
In 1890 - 1895, he headed the London Royal Society and for outstanding scientific merit was awarded the title of Lord Kelvin in 1892. Thomson enjoyed a huge authority among scientists around the world, he was a member of many scientific academies and societies, including the honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, had many awards.
SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITY.
Thomson's scientific interests were very diverse. Still being in Paris, he developed an important method for solving the tasks of electrostatics, which received the name of the "Mirror Image" method (1846) and has given the opportunity to solve a number of issues in electrical engineering, the theory of thermal conductivity, etc. In Paris, Thomson met the theory of carno, which led Its to the idea of \u200b\u200bthe absolute temperature and the concept of the absolute scale of temperatures, called the Celvin scale subsequently called.
Regardless of Clausius Thomson formulated the second law of thermodynamics. Together with J. Joem Thomson found that, with adiabatic expansion, the gas is cooled (Joule - Thomson effect). This effect with time has become widely used to produce low temperatures. Thomson belongs to the construction of the first consecutive theory of thermoelectric phenomena.
Thomson also developed the foundations of the theory of electrical oscillations and brought the formula weighing his name today, which establishes the dependence between the contour oscillation period and its capacity and inductance. He also performed important developments on the practical implementation of telegraph communications, was the main scientific consultant when laying first transatlantic cables that provided a stable telegraph connection between the two continents. For participation in the Tomson cable laying was erected to noble dignity.
Interestingly, work on the cable laying awakened in a scientist interest in marine navigation problems, the consequence of the creation of a continuous echo sounder, the Mareograph, the fundamental improvement of the marine compass. The authority of Thomson and respect for it is evidenced by the following words of one sea officer: "Every sailor must pray for him with a little!"
Stories about scientists in physics. 2014
100 famous scientists Sklyarenko Valentina Markovna
Thomson William, Baron Kelvin (1824 - 1907)
Thomson William, Baron Kelvin
(1824 - 1907)
On June 26, 1824, William Thomson was born in the Irish city of Belfast - one of the greatest physicists in the history of science, a man who for his scientific achievements was awarded the title of Lord (which, I must say, did not happen often). His ancestors were ordinary Irish farmers. True, James Thomson, Father William, graduated from the University of Glasgow and was a rather famous mathematician, taught at the Royal Academic Institute of Belfast. In 1817, he married Margaret Gardner. Their marriage was more familiar (four boys and two girls). The eldest son, James, and William brought up in the house of the Father, and the younger boys were given to the upbringing of the oldest sisters. It is not surprising that Thomson-senior took care of a worthy education of his sons. At first, he paid more attention to James, but soon it became clear that the weak health of the eldest son would not allow him to get a good education, and his father focused on the upbringing of William.
In 1832, Thomson-Sr. received a professor of mathematics in Glasgow, and the family left Belfast. In 1834, William entered the University of Glasgow, in which secondary school disciplines were taught for capable children. A great role in the formation of the young people of scientific interests was played by John Nikol, a well-known Scottish astronomer and a popularizer of science who worked at the university since 1839. He watched the best achievements of science and tried to acquaint his students with them. One of these innovations was the method of Fourier series, the use of which in physical studies Thomson, being still a student, devoted several works. In particular, he applied the method of Fourier series to study the patterns of heat propagation in various environments and showed an analogy between the propagation of heat and electric current.
In 1841, his father arranged William to Cambridge. The young man studied successfully, in 1845 he received a diploma of the second Rankler and won the Smith Prize. It must be said that William Thomson was a comprehensively developed young man, he was engaged in sports, even entered the command of Cambridge on academic rowing and, together with his comrades, she won the students of Oxford in the famous race held since 1829. Thomson also dismantled in music and literature. But all these hobbies he preferred classes in science, and here his interests were also distinguished by a variety.
In 1845, William Thomson made one of the first attempts to mathematically interpret the ideas of the Faraday. This year, he received a special scholarship, thanks to which he was able to go to Paris, where he worked in the laboratory of the famous physics Henri Viktor Rano. In France, William was mainly engaged in electrostatics and published a number of works in which, in particular, outlined the electrical method of obtaining an image developed by it. This method subsequently became a very useful tool in many electrostatic studies.
In 1846, Thomson received an invitation to lead the Department of Theoretical Physics in Glasgow. Already then, a 23-year-old scientist acquired a certain authority and fame in scientific circles. This is evidenced by at least his participation in the annual meeting of the British Association for the Development of Science in 1847, during which William heard the Joule's report on the theories of heat transfer. This topic is very interested in him and he seriously engaged in thermodynamics. Already in 1848, Thomson proposed his famous thermodynamic temperature scale (Celvin's scale). It differs from other temperature scales in that the absolute zero temperature is taken as the point of reference. Thus, this scale does not depend on the properties of the thermometric substance (the substance used in the temperature measuring temperature).
In 1851, William, almost simultaneously with Rudolph Clausius and regardless of it, formulated the second beginning of the thermodynamics. In the formulation of Thomson, this law sounded like this: "In nature, the process is impossible, the only result of which would be a mechanical work performed due to the cooling of the heat reservoir". From here, the English scientist made far-reaching conclusions: since the mechanical energy can completely move to the heat, and the complete opposite transformation is not possible - in the end, all the energy will go into thermal, and therefore mechanical movements will cease. This conclusion became known as the "idea of \u200b\u200bthe thermal death of the Universe." It should be said that now the hypothesis about the thermal death of the Universe is considered erroneous, but in any case, she has greatly contributed to the development of thermodynamics.
He continued William Thomson to explore and electrical phenomena. In the same 1851, he made another discovery: discovered that with the magnetization of ferromagnets, their electrical resistance changes. This phenomenon received the name of the Thomson effect in ferromagnets (about Thomson's thermoelectric effect, we will tell a little lower). With its works, William attracted the attention of a wider range of colleagues. 1851 marked another significant event - Thomson elected a member of the London Royal Society.
In 1852, the scientist married Margaret Kralim, in which he was in love with childhood. He was happy, but happiness, unfortunately, did not last long. Already during the honeymoon, Margaret's health deteriorated sharply. The next 17 years of Thomson's life were overshadowed by constant alarms for the health of the spouses, and almost all his free time the scientist devoted to care for her.
In 1852-1856, Thomson actively collaborated with Joule, although scientists were communicated mainly by correspondence. In 1853-1854, they jointly conducted a series of experiments and discovered the effect of changes in the gas temperature during its adiabatic expansion. The Joule - Thomson effect can be positive (gas is cooled) and negative (gas heats up). In addition to scientific interest, this phenomenon has a practical application: it is used in obtaining very low temperatures.
Finally, in 1855 the scientist combined two spheres of his scientific interests and began to explore thermoelectric processes. He developed a thermodynamic theory of thermoelectric phenomena. Many such phenomena have already been known, some opened Thomson himself. One of them got the name of the Thomson Thermoelectric Effect. It is as follows: if the electric current flows along the conductor, then there is a temperature difference, in addition to the heating process, explained by the Joule-Lenza law, there is an additional absorption or heat release (depending on the direction of the current). The most amazing thing that Thomson did not experimentally implemented this discovery, and predicted it on the basis of his theory. And this is at a time when scientists have not even had more or less correct ideas about the nature of the electric current! Thomson's thermoelectric phenomena studies have attracted students. Thanks to this, the first at the University of Glasgow Educational and Scientific Laboratory was created.
The English scientist was very interested in the practical application of the achievements of the modern science. In 1854, he received a proposal to take part in the design of the transatlantic telegraph cable laying. Thomson devoted a lot of effort and time to this work, since 1856 he entered the board of directors of Atlantic Telegraph, participated mainly during the holidays, in the expeditions on the cable laying. But the greatest promotion of the implementation of the project Thomson had its scientific research. He studied the patterns of propagation of electrical pulses on wires, electric currents in the oscillatory circuit, developed the theory of electromagnetic oscillations and, in particular, brought one of the main formulas of electrical and radio engineering, called it by the name (Thomson's formula determines the dependence of the circuit oscillation period from the capacitance of its capacitor and the inductance of the coil ).
Of course, during expeditions, such a versatile and passionate man, like Thomson, could not be interested in wagging issues. He found the use of its inventive and scientific talents in this area: improved the design of the compass and lot, conducted research on the theory of waves and theory of tides, etc. In general, the inventive activity of William Thomson deserves separate attention. It designed and improved a number of physical instruments: a mirror galvanometer, square and absolute electrometers, was the author and several applied inventions. For example, he patented an ondulator with an ink siphon, one of the types of telegraph key and even a water tap of its own design.
For participation in the laying of a transatlantic telegraph cable on November 10, 1866, William Thomson and other project managers were assigned to Lord titles. This activity took a lot of strength and time, and a long time has ever limited to those studies that could be conducted without being distracted by it. But this work was very fascinated by Thomson, besides, he would pass the sea passionately. Since 1869, William Thomson took part in the laying of the French Atlantic Cable.
On June 17, 1870, Margaret died. After that, the scientist decided to change his life, more time to devote to rest, he even bought Schoon, which was performed walking with friends and colleagues. In the summer of 1873, Thomson headed another expedition on the cable laying. Due to damage to the cable, the crew was forced to make a 16-day stop on Madeira, where the scientist became friends with the Charles Blandy family, especially with Fanny - one of his daughters, who married the next year.
In addition to scientific, teaching and engineering activities, William Thomson performed many honorary duties. Three times (1873-1878, 1886-1890, 1895-1907) he was elected by the President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, from 1890 to 1895 he headed the London Royal Society. In 1884 he traveled to the United States, where he read a series of lectures. In 1892, the scientist received the title of First Baron Kelvin (this name was taken from the name of the river flowing through the University of Glasgow). Unfortunately, William became not only the first, but also the last Baron Kelvin - his second marriage, as well as the first, turned out to be childless. In 1899, Kelvin left the department in Glasgow, although he did not stop doing science. Next year, he made a lecture on the crisis of the dynamic theory of light and heat. Later, the scientist was interested in new discoveries: X-rays, radioactivity, etc. Lord William Kelvin died on December 17, 1907. A scientist is buried in Westminster Abbey, next to the grave of Isaac Newton.
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From the book Worldwide History in the sayings and quotes Author Doshenko Konstantin VasilyevichThomson William Lord Kelvin - A well-known British physicist and a mechanic, famous for its theoretical and practical work in the field of thermodynamics, electrodynamics and mechanics, was born June 26, 1824 In the city of Belfast, Ireland. Thanks to his father, the famous Mathematics James Thomson, whose textbooks were reissued for several decades, the future scientist received a good education, which actually predetermined his future life path.
Together with his brother James Thomson, William gets a good primary education in Glasgow College, and then at the College of St. Peter in Cambridge, at the end of which the twenty-one-year-old Thomson takes the Department of Theoretical Physics at the University of Glasgow.
While still Student William became interested in research in the field of electricity distribution, and also begins to engage in issues related to electrostatic. BUT in 1842. A number of scientific works associated with the results of these studies also publishes.
In 1855. Together with his students from the University of Glasgow, Thomson conducts numerous practical studies on thermoelectricity. By the way, in part thanks to the scientist, students across all England began to attract practical scientific work.
At about the same time, Thomson conducts theoretical studies of the distribution of electrical signals on the wires. Partly thanks to him and the results of his work it became possible to create transatlantic (through the entire ocean) of telegraph lines of communication. The scientist himself takes direct participation in the laying of some of them. Thomson also conducts studies of oscillatory electrical charges, continued later by his follower Gustav, Robert Kirchhof and the most as the foundation for electrical fluctuations.
In 1853. William Thomson formulates the dependence of the electric oscillations of the contour from the tank and inductance, called later in his honor (Thomson formula). And three years later in 1856. The scientist opens the effect of heat outlook in the conductor when the electric current is flowing on it - the third thermoelectric effect or the Thomson effect.
William Thomson personally designed a number of accurate electrical measuring instruments: a cable galvanometer, an electrometer and a siphon mark (device for receiving telegraph signals). By the way, it is Thomson one of the first to be used instead of a solid metallic cable stranded.
The great scientist and inventor died December 17, 1907 in Scotland. For their merits in front of science, he was awarded the title of Baron and was elected an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In his honor, a unit of temperature metering - Celvin was named (Thomson received the title of Lord Kelvin by the name of the river, which proceeded near his native university in Glasgow).
