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LORD KELVIN
Revolutionary Scientist
A permanent display based around the life and work of Lord Kelvin - Glasgow’s greatest scientist. An exciting mix of hands on activities, original scientific instruments, demonstrations and computer-generated images bring this new display to life. Visitors have the chance to investigate how solving problems in physics 150 years ago led to practical inventions which have transformed all of our lives today.
The exhibition is aimed very much at a non-specialist audience, especially young people, while also creating an easy route into the riches of the Hunterian collection for those who want to know more.
Along with such luminaries as Darwin and Lister, Lord Kelvin was a giant in the world of science, and his achievements make him one of Glasgow’s most famous citizens. This exhibition gives a real insight into the man behind the beard and robes who features so prominently in Glasgow’s West End. Many people wander past Shannon’s statue of Kelvin in Kelvingrove Park without really being aware of the scale of what he did for science and society.
Although born in Belfast, he came to Glasgow at a very young age and made the city his life-long base. ‘Lord Kelvin’ was the title William Thomson took when he was made the first ‘science lord’. He taught at the University of Glasgow for fifty-three years and became its Chancellor. In Glasgow his contribution to safety at sea was probably most profoundly appreciated because of the shipbuilding and international trading connections.
Kelvin still affects the way science is taught today due to his methods of demonstrations and laboratory projects. He almost invented the modern research degree. A great theorist he was also a very practical man; the death of his nephew at sea led to a lifelong fascination with safety at sea; his compass was adopted by most of the world’s navies; his tide gauge was so good it remained unsurpassed for many years. He solved the problems involved in laying the first transatlantic telegraph cables and conveying messages, thus paving the way for the global communications highway. Every mobile phone and computer user owes him a debt. We even name a system of temperature and make of refrigerator after him.
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‘Lord Kelvin – Revolutionary Scientist’ marks a new departure for the Hunterian Museum, being a truly innovative exhibition that brings together a world-famous collection of historical items and merges them with modern technology to bring alive the story of a unique and humble man. This is totally different to any previous scientific display which were all too often interesting for specialists but totally baffling to everybody else!
‘Lord Kelvin – Revolutionary Scientist’ has been supported by The Wolfson Foundation (ReDiscover Fund), which is dedicated to the public understanding of science.
Why visit ‘Lord Kelvin – Revolutionary Scientist’?
- Lord Kelvin is brought to life – not just the man but the huge range of his work. Find out more from the computer animations on the giant screens.
- The most important and interesting of his original teaching contraptions, experimental equipment and instruments are on display.
- What Kelvin did 150 years go still affects our lives today. Find out why.
- Visitors can choose how to approach the stories, instruments and scientific concepts. Choose from traditional objects and labels, computer graphics, interactive demonstration exhibits, film and computer resources.
- Decide how far to follow each theme, using buttons that highlight sections and illuminate historical objects from the world-famous Kelvin collection.
- You don’t need to know lots about science to enjoy the exhibits in this hands-on animated experience.
- Watch a wine glass rim wobble by up to a centimetre without breaking!
- Listen to music from a flame as a plasma loudspeaker!
- Get a buzz seeing Kelvin’s name lit by high-voltage electricity!
- Test your capacity to be a human battery!
- View a selection of the Kelvin instrument collection. Short explanatory labels put this world-class collection into context as never before. Key pieces are animated with DVD-based IT pods.
- Use computers to explore Lord Kelvin in more depth. Further levels of information and access to research collections are available for those who want to find out more.
William Thomson, Lord Kelvin – A Short Biography
Lord Kelvin was born William Thomson in Belfast on 26th June 1824 and was the fourth child of James and Margaret Thomson. After the death of his mother, William along with the rest of the family moved to Glasgow where his father took up the Chair of Mathematics at the University. William entered the University of Glasgow at just 6 years of age, officially matriculating at age 10. In 1841, at the age of 17 he entered Cambridge, graduating there four years later before returning in 1846 to take up the Chair of Natural Philosophy (what we now call physics) at the University of Glasgow.
Almost immediately after becoming Professor, Kelvin made his mark on the way physics was taught, and in particular, the experimental aspects. He convinced the University to fund improvements to the experimental facilities, paving the way for the world’s first student laboratories and the modern PhD. He pioneered many areas including heat and energy where in 1848, he advocated the absolute temperature scale that now bears his name. Modern refrigeration owes a great deal to the laws he came up with along with colleague James Joule.
During the 1850s, Kelvin published two papers a month on average. Many showed his mathematical skills, providing solutions and theories to topical problems of the day. However, Kelvin’s practical application of maths and physics are just as notable. In the mid 1850s and for the next decade he became increasingly involved in the cable laying projects that were to allow, for the first time, Britain to communicate instantly with the other side of the Atlantic. By 1866 his skills as a mathematician, applied physicist and engineer had led the Atlantic cable project to successful completion earning him a Knighthood.
Other highlights of Kelvin’s 53-year career include his 1857 discovery of the magneto resistive effect, now the basis of how data is read inside modern hard disc drives. His siphon recorder can be thought of as the predecessor to the modern fax machine, and works using principles of electrostatic attraction that are to be found inside present day printers and photocopiers. In the 1870s Kelvin did much work to ensure the safety at sea. His compass design was state of the art and was adopted the world over, even by the conservative British Admiralty.
In 1884, Kelvin visited America and gave his Baltimore lectures - a sort of master class for eminent scientists of the time. Hot topics included the wave theory of light. In 1892 he was made a peer by Queen Victoria and became the first science Lord, taking his name from the river Kelvin that flows past University. He was still publishing papers right to the very end, the last two appearing in 1908, the year following his death. There is no doubt that Kelvin's contribution to nineteenth century science and engineering was considerable. This is symbolised by his burial, at Westminster Abbey on 23rd December 1907, beside Sir Isaac Newton.
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