Lord Kelvin

William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, known as Lord Kelvin, was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer, born in Belfast in 1824. He was professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, where he carried out significant research on the mathematical analysis of electricity and helped formulate the first and second laws of thermodynamics. He determined the correct value of absolute zero, and the unit of absolute temperature, the kelvin, is named in his honour, as is the Joule-Thomson effect. He worked on the transatlantic telegraph project, was knighted in 1866, received the Royal Society's Copley Medal in 1883, served as its president from 1890 to 1895, and in 1892 became the first scientist elevated to the House of Lords.