Degrees Kelvin: A Tale of Genius, Invention, and Tragedy [Paperback]

David Lindley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 2005

In 1840, a precocious 16-year-old by the name of William Thomson spent his summer vacation studying an extraordinarily sophisticated mathematical controversy. His brilliant analysis inspired lavish praise and made the boy an instant intellectual celebrity. As a young scholar, William dazzled a Victorian society enthralled with the seductive authority and powerful beauty of scientific discovery. At a time when no one really understood heat, light, electricity, or magnetism, Thomson found key connections between them, laying the groundwork for two of the cornerstones of 19th century science - the theories of electromagnetism and thermodynamics. Charismatic, confident, and boyishly handsome, Thomson was not a scientist who labored quietly in a lab, plying his trade in monkish isolation. When scores of able tinkerers were flummoxed by their inability to adapt overland telegraphic cables to underwater, intercontinental use, Thomson took to the high seas with new equipment that was to change the face of modern communications. And as the world's navies were transitioning from wooden to iron ships, they looked to Thomson to devise a compass that would hold true even when surrounded by steel. Gaining fame and wealth through his inventive genius, Thomson was elevated to the peerage by Queen Victoria for his many achievements. He was the first scientist ever to be so honored. Indeed, his name survives in the designation of degrees Kelvin, the temperature scale that begins with absolute zero, the point at which atomic motion ceases and there is a complete absence of heat. Sir William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, was Great Britain's unrivaled scientific hero. But as the century drew to a close and Queen Victoria's reign ended, this legendary scientific mind began to weaken. He grudgingly gave way to others with a keener, more modern vision. But the great physicist did not go quietly. With a ready pulpit at his disposal, he publicly proclaimed his doubts over the existence of atoms. He refused to believe that radioactivity involved the transmutation of elements. And believing that the origin of life was a matter beyond the expertise of science and better left to theologians, he vehemently opposed the doctrines of evolution, repeatedly railing against Charles Darwin. Sadly, this pioneer of modern science spent his waning years arguing that the Earth and the Sun could not be more than 100 million years old. And although his early mathematical prowess had transformed our understanding of the forces of nature, he would never truly accept the revolutionary changes he had helped bring about, and it was others who took his ideas to their logical conclusion. In the end, Thomson came to stand for all that was old and complacent in the world of 19th century science. Once a scientific force to be reckoned with, a leader to whom others eagerly looked for answers, his peers in the end left him behind - and then meted out the ultimate punishment for not being able to keep step with them. For while they were content to bury him in Westminster Abbey alongside Isaac Newton, they used his death as an opportunity to write him out of the scientific record, effectively denying him his place in history. Kelvin's name soon faded from the headlines, his seminal ideas forgotten, his crucial contributions overshadowed. Destined to become the definitive biography of one of the most important figures in modern science, "Degrees Kelvin" unravels the mystery of a life composed of equal parts triumph and tragedy, hubris and humility, yielding a surprising and compelling portrait of a complex and enigmatic man.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

William Thomson, later Lord Kelvin, was one of the 19th century's best-known scientists and inventors. As Lindley (Boltzmann's Atom; The End of Physics; etc.) so comprehensively explains, Kelvin (1824 1907) was largely responsible for the creation of the twin fields of electromagnetism and thermodynamics, and played a significant role in connecting England and America by transatlantic telegraph cable. Kelvin's work was so important and he was so well known that he became the first British scientist elevated to the peerage, and when he died, he was buried in Westminster Abbey near Isaac Newton. Yet, unlike other scientists of his and earlier times, Kelvin is no longer a household name. In his thoroughly engaging biography, Lindley expertly examines Kelvin's life and the thought processes of this mathematical genius as well as providing a rich overview of physics as it was created from what had been known as "natural philosophy." Lindley also does a superb job of explaining how, over the course of his life and by sticking to his basic scientific principles, Kelvin changed from an extraordinarily creative theoretician, in both the pure and the applied realms, to a scientific anachronism, defending outmoded ideas and refusing to accept new concepts. Lindley provides insight into a misunderstood scientific legend and into the process of science itself at a critical period of history.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Scientific American

William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824–1907), made major contributions to 19th-century physics and technology but is mainly known today through the attachment of his name to a scale of temperature. Lindley, an astrophysicist who now focuses on writing about science, brings Kelvin to life in this excellent biography. The young Kelvin, Lindley writes, "made astonishing progress in the quest to understand the nature of heat, work, and energy, and in the parallel effort to elucidate the nature of electricity and magnetism." Kelvin's theory of undersea signal transmission was fundamental for the installation of transatlantic cables, and he was involved in work on power generation and navigation instruments. The "tragedy" of the book's title is that the old Kelvin became something of a crank, sticking "with blind stubbornness" to ideas about radioactivity, electromagnetism and the age of the earth in the face of contrary evidence accumulating at the turn of the century. But if Kelvin could come back today, Lindley says, he "would after being taken aback by the dizzying scope of modern theoretical physics decide that, after all, it was exactly what he had been trying to say."

Editors of Scientific American --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Joseph Henry Press (October 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0309096189
• ISBN-13: 978-0309096188
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #488,772 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 19th Century Einstein, March 23, 2004

By 

Donald B. Siano (Westfield, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Degrees Kelvin (Hardcover)

The author has done a fine job in bringing this man, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) to life. He was one of the primary movers of the scientific world of the Victorian era, and much can be learned of the development of the physical sciences through a study of his methods, personal interactions, and achievements.

Thomson was one of the dozen or so illustrious men, almost entirely British, Scottish, German and French, who developed the central ideas of thermodynamics and electromagnetism in the middle of the 19th century. His particular contribution, among many, was to popularize and further develop the ideas of the Frenchman, Carnot, of the famous reversible heat engine. This was to lead ultimately to the discovery of the absolute temperature scale, now named for him, and to entropy. In electromagnetism, he stood between the non-mathematical insights of Faraday, and the highly mathematical formulation of Maxwell and Heaviside, which has changed little in its fundamental approach, and is still taught to sophomores today. In fact, he and a friend wrote the first recognizable classical physics textbook for undergraduates. And he played a big role as a consultant/inventor for the first transatlantic telegraph cable, a story well told here and in Gordon's recent "Thread Across the Ocean."

Thomson was something of a prodigy, gathering honors and publications at a very young age, but later in life his productivity fell off into an idosyncratic crankiness. His required approach to problems was to devise mechanical analogs for phenomena, which turned out to be too limited to arrive at a full field theory of electromagnetism and atomism, neither of which he ever accepted fully. He was a true believer in the ether, but was never able to use it to produce a fruitful alternative to Maxwell's E&M or kinetic theory.

It was interesting for me to note the obvious parallels between his life-arc and that of Einstein. Einstein was also unable to fully participate in the later scientific developments in quantum mechanics because of a prejudice or block similar to Thomson's requirement for a mechanical model. And then Kelvin spent an inordinate amount of energy in developing an improved ship's compass (a profitable success), while Einstein tried mightily (but unsuccessfully) to improve the refrigerator. Einstein killed Kelvin's ether by ignoring it, but was in turn killed by his insistence that "God doesn't play with dice."

Lindley has written a well-researched but entertaining and well written book. The illustrations are a good addition, not seen before by me. A scientist himself, he is well equipped to understand the science of the times, and is unerring and enthusiastic for his subject. Well done!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Most interesting for its portrayal of life outside the lab, August 14, 2004

By 

Debra Hamel (North Haven, CT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Degrees Kelvin (Hardcover)

British physicist Sir William Thomson, better known to history as Lord Kelvin, was among the most brilliant scientists of the 19th century. Already a published author upon his arrival at Cambridge as an undergraduate (in 1841), Thomson went on to a distinguished career during which he made advances in the studies of electricity and magnetism, heat and light, as well as establishing the existence of an absolute zero--the work with which he is probably most readily identified. But Thomson was, above all else, a practical thinker who most enjoyed applying scientific principles to the solution of real-life problems. Thus, while involved in the various attempts that were made to lay the first transatlantic telegraph cable, Thomson invented the mirror galvanometer, a more sensitive instrument for receiving electronic pulses than had previously been available. Likewise, Thomson's interest in sailing led to his invention of sounding machines for aid in navigation and the design of a more reliable naval compass.

Lindley's account of Thomson's life and career alternates in the telling between discussions of science and of personality. The former will be appreciated by readers with some scientific background, but Lindley does not dumb down his technical discussions sufficiently for the aid of the general reader. Far more accessible is Lindley's discussion of Kelvin's life outside of the laboratory, as for example his account of the subtle battle between the young William and his somewhat domineering father James--over the former's expenses, attentiveness to school work, social contacts, moral probity, exercise, conduct of professional relationships, and so on. James Thomson was involved in the particulars of William's life and early career to a degree that must have been maddening to the young man. (Much of their struggle revolved around a position that opened at Glasgow University, where James Thomson was a professor of mathematics. James wanted desperately for his son to work at the University. William got the position, at the age of 22, and stayed there for more than fifty years.) There are, too, rewarding accounts of the various luminaries with whom Thomson came into contact, such as the autodidact Michael Faraday (whose accomplishments and personality have clearly impressed the author).

Lindley frames his biography with a discussion of the unfortunate fact of Kelvin's career that he became in his later life something of a dinosaur, clinging stubbornly to antiquated ideas--such as an upper age for the earth of a mere 100 million years--while science advanced around him. Celebrated in his life, Kelvin has suffered a posthumous diminution of reputation. Such is the "tragedy" of Lindley's subtitle ("A Tale of Genius, Invention, and Tragedy"), but it is overstated. Kelvin's life was filled with frenetic, joyous work on projects that fascinated him, and he was appreciated during his lifetime for his contributions. If in some areas Kelvin's conclusions were wrongheaded, he was yet responsible for substantial scientific advances. He seems to have been a wholly fascinating figure, and Lindley does a service in making his story available to readers.

Reviewed by Debra Hamel, author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True Story of a Neglected Scientific Icon, February 1, 2005

By 

Stephen Pletko "Uncle Stevie" (London, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Degrees Kelvin (Hardcover)

+++++

When I was in high school, the only thing I knew about a "Kelvin" was that it was associated with a temperature scale that was expressed in Kelvin units (symbol: K). That is, the lowest temperature possible known as "absolute zero" is 0 degrees K (minus 273.15 degrees Celsius). And that's it! I never realized that this was a way to honor a scientific genius named Lord Kelvin, originally William Thomson (1824 to 1907).

This detailed, well researched, and easy-to-read book, by Dr. David Lindley, traces the life of this now little-known scientific genius and inventor. But "it was not for science alone that Kelvin became famous but because of the way he brought science into ordinary life." And he brought science into ordinary life by developing numerous useful inventions (which made him a wealthy man). And his legacy continues to this day. For example, "the modern inkjet printer...uses essentially [a] trick that Thomson dreamed up in the 1860s!" Or consider that Lord Kelvin's "ideas and principles [are] still taught today at the core of any course on basic physics."

In fact, Lord Kelvin was so well known in his day that when he died he was buried alongside Isaac Newton. Quite an honor!

Lord Kelvin's life was a fascinating one. In his story, you will encounter other great legends such as Newton, Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell, Cavendish, Charles Coulomb, Pierre Curie, Charles Darwin, and James Clerk Maxwell. He had a broad range of scientific interests. What really intrigued me and what I found totally unexpected were his thoughts on the extraterrestrial origins of life on Earth.

In the center of this book are nine black and white illustrations that I have not seen before. They add another dimension to the book.

Finally, the only minor problem I had with this book was with the idea of Kelvin's life being somehow a "tragedy" (as stated in the subtitle). Actually, he had no more tragedies than other people. The fact that he did not eagerly accept the theories of other scientists seems to me that he was cautious which is the mark of a good scientist. The only real tragedy that I can see from reading this book is that history seems to have forgotten him.

In conclusion, this is a fascinating story of a scientific genius and inventor. This book is truly "destined to become the definitive biography of one of the most important figures in modern science!!"

(first published 2004; acknowledgements; introduction; 6 chapters; epilogue; main narrative of 315 pages; 9 black and white illustrations; bibliography; notes; index)

+++++