William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (or Lord Kelvin

1824-1907

 

Kelvin was a Scottish mathematical physicist and engineer. At the University of Glasgow he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formation of the first and second Laws of Thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging discipline of physics in its modern form.

 

 He also had a career as an electric telegraph engineer and inventor, which propelled him into the public eye and ensured his wealth and fame. For his work on the transatlantic telegraph project he was Knighted by Queen Victoria, becoming Sir William Thomson.

Lord Kelvin is widely known for developing the basis of absolute zero, and for this reason a unit temperature measure is named after him.