Hugh Longbourne Callendar

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Hugh Longbourne Callendar
X-ray imaging
InstitutionsUniversity of Cambridge

Royal Holloway College

McGill University

Royal College of Science

Hugh Longbourne Callendar FRS (18 April 1863 – 21 January 1930) was a British physicist known for his contributions to the areas of thermometry and thermodynamics.[1]

Callendar was the first to design and build an accurate platinum resistance thermometer suitable for use, which allowed scientists and engineers to obtain consistent and accurate results.[1] He conducted experiments and researched thermodynamics, producing and publishing reliable tables on the thermodynamic properties of steam used for calculations.[2] Callendar worked with multiple institutions during World War I, helping to research and develop useful tools for the Navy.[1]

Callendar received awards such as the James Watt Medal of the Institution of Civil Engineers (1898) and the Rumford Medal (1906).[3] He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, and later a member of the Physical Society of London. Callendar was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics three times.[1]

He died at home in Ealing, after an operation in 1930.[4]

Birth & education

Callendar was born in

Anglican rector, and Anne Cecilia Longbourne.[5] He was christened in his father’s church on May 24, 1863.[4] His father died in 1867. Callendar developed his skills in languages and mathematics from a young age with assistance from a private tutor, building multiple devices such as induction coils and generators, and teaching himself Morse code by age 10.[4] At age 11, Callendar began his education at Marlborough College, where he participated in football and represented the college in both shooting and gymnastics.[1][4]

Callendar began studying at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1882, obtaining first class honors degree in Classics in 1884 and graduated as the 16th wrangler with first class honors in mathematics in 1885.[2] In 1885 he began studying experimental physics at the Cavendish Laboratory under physicist J.J Thomson, with no practical experience or knowledge of physics.[6] Here he developed his thesis on platinum thermometry and in 1886 he became a Fellow of Trinity.[7] While at Cambridge, he invented a new system of shorthand for writing quickly, which J.J. Thomson learnt and used.[6]

Family and personal life

He married Victoria Mary Stewart, whom he met at Cambridge, in 1894 in England.[4] They had a daughter, Cecil (1895), and three sons, Guy Stewart Callendar (1898), Leslie Hugh (1896) and Maxwell Victor (1905). Guy Stewart proposed the effect of carbon dioxide emissions on the climate, known as 'The Callendar Effect'.[2]

One of Callendar’s interests was motoring. He undertook research on

soccer, tennis, and handicraft, including automotive mechanics. He published a number of works on what he called "Cursive Shorthand"[8][9]
and wrote on English spelling reform.

Career

Resistance thermometry

Prior to Callendar’s work in the area of thermometry, there lacked an instrument for accurate and reliable temperature measurement. The gas thermometer was the standard for temperature scale at the time. These devices had significant limitations regarding their reliability and practicality, as they were costly and large.[10] The mercury thermometer was also used for temperature measurement, although it had a restricted range and was often too fragile for use.[10]

At Cavendish Laboratory, Thomson advised Callendar to study metallic resistance thermometry.[4] Werner von Siemens was the first to propose the use of a platinum resistance temperature detector in 1860, although his instrument readings were unstable.[2] Callendar developed an equation for the resistance of metal as a function of temperature, which was accurate to within 1% from 0-600 °C.[2] This equation was used to develop a standard scale of temperature, which was later accepted by the Committee on Electrical Standards in 1899 to be used internationally.[2][11] By 1886 he had developed a design for an accurate platinum resistance thermometer, correcting the errors made by Siemens.[4] The thermometer measured temperatures with accuracy from  -190 °C to 660 °C. His results were praised by J.J Thomson for providing a new tool that “could determine temperatures with an ease and accuracy never obtainable before”.[6] Callendar improved the heat range of his platinum thermometer from -200 °C up to 1000 °C.[4][10] His design underwent vigorous testing at the National Physical Laboratory, which yielded confirmation of the reliability of the thermometer.[10]

Callendar’s platinum thermometer could be used to measure the

Cambridge Instrument Company.[4] The production of modern platinum thermometers were based on Callendar’s model with the accuracy continually improved on, such as more purified platinum and making them smaller.[11] His work on the platinum resistance thermometer gave way for the development of the rolling-chart thermometer, which permits the measurement of climatic temperature over time.[1]

Although there are many other methods for temperature measurement, platinum resistance thermometers continue to be used. They are primarily used as calibrating devices due to their high levels of accuracy and stability over time.[12]

Thermodynamics

Royal Holloway College from 1891-1893.[1] In 1893 he commenced at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and was assigned to the second Macdonald Chair in Physics.[1] Leslie, Cecil and Guy were born during this time at McGill. While at McGill, Callendar conducted research on two topics in the area of thermodynamics. The first was research on steam engines alongside Professor of Mechanical Engineering John Thomas Nicolson.[1] The second was the study of electrical and thermal units using calorimetry techniques with Howard Turner Barnes.[1]

He also studied and published papers on the heat of gases. He calculated a boiling point of sulfur, which was four degrees below the existing accepted value.[2] The boiling point of sulfur on the International Temperature Scale in 1927 and Callendar’s value only differed by 0.07 °C.[2]

Work on steam

Callendar developed a formula for the heat of steam, expressing it as a function of pressure and temperature, publishing it in his first paper on thermodynamics in 1900.[1] He was able to obtain experimental results consistent with his formula on multiple thermodynamic properties.[1] From this he was able to develop tables on the thermodynamic properties of steam for calculations in science and engineering. This was an important contribution, as there lacked a standard accepted set of steam tables. His Callendar Steam Tables were published (1915, 1922, 1927) and also published The Properties of Steam and Thermodynamic Theory of Turbines in 1920.[5][7] Turbine manufacturers accepted and used Callendar’s steam tables to invent steam machinery.[2]

Callendar and his son participated in the first International Steam Conference was held in 1929, which aimed to resolve inconsistencies between steam tables used globally.[1] After Callendar’s death the following year, his son Guy Stewart continued to work on steam properties. He published several works on the subject alongside professor Alfred Charles Glyn Egerton.[2]

Work on calorimetry

In 1902, Callendar and Barnes developed the continuous-flow

combustion gases.[13]

Other work

In 1896, Callendar was the first in Canada to perform X-ray experiments. The method produced satisfactory results that could be used for imaging in hospitals.[4]

Callendar also did work on fuels later in his career. He contributed to a paper on

paraffin fuels.[2]

Callendar invented and published two systems of shorthand: Cursive Shorthand in 1889, and Orthographic Cursive in 1891.

World War 1

During World War 1 Callendar was a consultant to the Board of Invention and Research (BIR). He worked mostly with the body responsible in charge of detecting and destroying submarines.[1]

He was also a member of the Air Inventions Committee (AIC), alongside his son Guy Stewart. Here they performed experiments on equipment and aircraft engines using radiography, locating defects and fractures.[1]

Awards & honours

Callendar was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1894.[2] He was president of the Physical Society of London from 1910-1912.[2] He was made a Commander of the British Empire (C.B.E) in 1920 for his work during World War 1. He received many honours and awards including:

  • Watt Medal (1898)
  • Rumford Medal (1906)
  • Hawksley Gold Medal (1915)
  • Duddell Medal and Prize
    (1923)

The Institute of Measurement and Control awards The Callendar Medal each year “for outstanding contribution to the art of instruments or measurement”.[14]

Publications

References

  1. ^
    S2CID 118260218
    .
  2. ^
    doi:10.1016/S0187-893X(17)30126-X
    .
  3. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32248. Retrieved 21 May 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1-935704-04-1
  5. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32248. Retrieved 21 May 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-1-139-10371-8
  7. ^ a b "Hugh Longbourne Callendar - Graces Guide". www.gracesguide.co.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  8. ^ Callendar, Hugh L. (1889). A Manual of Cursive Shorthand. London: C. J. Clay and Sons.
  9. ^ Callendar, Hugh L. (1889). Reading practice in Cursive Shorthand: Facsimiles of actual writing. London: C. J. Clay and Sons.
  10. ^ a b c d Price, Rodney (1959). "The Platinum Resistance Thermometer: A Review of its Construction and Applications". Platinum Metals Review. 3: 78–87.
  11. ^
    ISSN 0508-3443
    .
  12. ISBN 978-0-12-381960-4
  13. PMID 6017643
    .
  14. ^ "Institute of Measurement and Control > Home > Awards". www.instmc.org. Retrieved 1 June 2020.

External links

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