Sir William Thomson

1824-1907. William Thomson, Baron Kelvin of Largs, was born in Belfast, Ireland to the professor of mathematics at Glasgow University. Thomson himself attended Glasgow University. After graduating from Cambridge at twenty-one, and after further studying in Paris, he returned to Glasgow as a professor of natural philosophy. His contributions to the sciences are vast and varied, recognized by fame and by numerous awards across his lifetime. His efforts in physics greatly aided its unification into its modern form. His contributions to the Atlantic Cable led to his knighthood in 1866. In 1892 he was raised to the peerage. He held his professorship at Glasgow for fifty-three years, eventually chosen its Chancellor. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.

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