Kelvin: Life, Labours and Legacy [Hardcover]

Raymond Flood (Editor), Mark McCartney (Editor), Andrew Whitaker (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 25, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0199231257 | ISBN-13: 978-0199231256

Lord Kelvin was one of the greatest physicists of the Victorian era. Widely known for the development of the Kelvin scale of temperature measurement, Kelvin's interests ranged across thermodynamics, the age of the Earth, the laying of the first transatlantic telegraph table, not to mention inventions such as an improved maritime compass and a sounding device which allowed depths to be taken both quickly and while the ship was moving. He was an academic engaged in fundamental research, while also working with industry and technological advances. He corresponded and collaborated with other eminent men of science such as Stokes, Joule, Maxwell, and Helmholtz, was raised to the peerage as a result of his contributions to science, and finally buried in Westminster Abbey next to Newton. This book contains a collection of chapters, authored by leading experts, covering the life and wide-ranging contributions made by William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824-1907).

Editorial Reviews

Review

...highlights Kelvin's crucial contributions to science, engineering and invention... Derry Jones Chemistry World

About the Author

Raymond Flood is University Lecturer in Computer Studies and Mathematics in the Continuing Education Department in Oxford University Mark McCartney is a lecturer in mathematics at the University of Ulster. Andrew Whitaker is Professor of Physics at Queen's University Belfast.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (June 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199231257
• ISBN-13: 978-0199231256
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,238,508 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Approach to Lord Kelvin, August 6, 2008

By 

Bill B "CableGuy" (Long Island, New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kelvin: Life, Labours and Legacy (Hardcover)

To researchers into the history of undersea cables, any book on Lord Kelvin, one of the pioneers in this field, must be of interest.

Conceived in 2007, just 100 years after Kelvin's death, this scholarly anthology is made up of sixteen chapters divided into three sections. Each essay is written by an expert in one of three fields; Kelvin's Life, Labours, and Legacy, as the title suggests. As the editors' preface notes, the contributors include historians of science and of mathematics, physicists, mathematicians, and engineers.

Each section of the book has one chapter of particular relevance to his theoretical and practical work in the cable field:

In Life, Peter Bowler focuses on William Thomson's older brother James, who spent most of his career as an engineer, and discusses the influences he had on William. Labours has a lengthy piece by Bernard Crossland titled Kelvin and Engineering, much of which considers Thomson's work on the Atlantic cable. Finally, in Legacy, editor Andrew Whitaker sums up Kelvin's career, including thoughts on his contributions to engineering and invention.

This is not to say that the remaining chapters lack interest. While a single-author work such as David Lindley's Degrees Kelvin (see below) can present a unified, in-depth view of William Thomson's life and career, the format of Kelvin: Life, Labours and Legacy allows sixteen different voices to be heard, presenting new insights into Kelvin's long and varied work in many areas of scientific and engineering endeavour.