Popular Lectures and Addresses

A collection of Kelvin's scientific lectures on the science of the seas, particularly on navigation, tides and magnetic forces.

William Thomson (Author)

9781108029797, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 June 2011

528 pages, 48 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 3 cm, 0.66 kg

William Thomson, Baron Kelvin (1824–1907), was educated at Glasgow and Cambridge. While only in his twenties, he was awarded the University of Glasgow's chair in natural philosophy, which he was to hold for over fifty years. He is best known through the Kelvin, the unit of measurement of temperature named after him in consequence of his development of an absolute scale of temperature. These volumes collect together Kelvin's lectures for a wider audience. In a convivial but never condescending style, he outlines a range of scientific subjects to audiences of his fellow scientists. The range of topics covered reflects Kelvin's broad interests and his stature as one of the most eminent of Victorian scientists. Volume 3, published in 1891, deals with the science of the seas and oceans, particularly as it relates to navigation, tides and magnetic forces.

Preface
32. Navigation
33. The tides
34. Terrestrial magnetism and the mariner's compass
35. On deep-sea sounding by pianoforte wire
36. On lighthouse characteristics
37. On the forces concerned in the laying and lifting of deep-sea cables
38. On ship waves
Index.

Subject Areas: History of science [PDX]