William Thomson (Lord Kelvin)
1824–1907, Belfast, Ireland, Largs, Scotland
Thermal physicsClassical statistical mechanics
Scottish physicist who introduced the absolute temperature scale and made major contributions to the second law of thermodynamics.
Thomson (raised to Lord Kelvin in 1892) proposed the absolute temperature scale (now called the Kelvin scale) in 1848, with zero as 'absolute zero' — the theoretically lowest possible temperature. He also independently stated a version of the second law of thermodynamics at nearly the same time as Clausius, and played a key role in laying the first transatlantic telegraph cable.
Workplaces: University of Glasgow
United Kingdom