Degrees Kelvin

Lord Kelvin is often thought of nowadays as a reactionary, someone who couldn't accept the sweeping changes which were occuring in science in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. However, during his life, he was feted as one of the greatest living scientists. In Degrees Kelvin : The Genius and Tragedy of William Thompson David Lindley looks into this contradiction.

The book describes Thomson's success as a student a Cambridge, and his rapid advancement to a professorship at Glasgow. Lindley describes Thompson's genius in taking the sometimes vague ideas of electromagnetism and thermodynamics and expressing them in a mathematically rigorous form. But Thompson wasn't just interested in academia, he was also greatly involved in the practical applications of science, particularly in a marine context, for example the laying of the transatlantic telegraph cable, and the design of a new form of ship's compass. So there is little surprise in his elevation to the peerage.

But there are other biographies of Kelvin. Lindley goes further, looking at how his work related to that of other scientists of his time, showing the details of some of the controversies he became involved in, and why he sometimes backed the wrong side. There's a lot packed into this book, but it doesn't make it difficult to read, and I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to find out about the successes of classical physics in the second half of the 19^th century.