James Thomson (engineer)
James Thomson | |
---|---|
Born | 16 February 1822 |
Died | 8 May 1892 | (aged 70)
Known for | Ball-and-disk integrator Differential analyser Tea leaf paradox Tears of wine |
Awards | Bakerian Medal (1892) FRS (1877) |
James Thomson
Biography
Born in Belfast, much of his youth was spent in
In 1875 he was elected a Fellow of the
He served as President of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland from 1884 to 1886.
In later life he lived at 2 Florentine Gardens, off Hillhead Street.[3]
He died of cholera in Glasgow on 8 May 1892. He is buried on the northern slopes of the Glasgow Necropolis overlooking Glasgow Cathedral. One obituary described Thomson as “a man of singular purity of mind and simplicity of character“, whose “gentle kindness and unfailing courtesy will be long remembered.”[4]
Legacy
James Thomson is known for his work on the improvement of water wheels, water pumps and turbines. Also his innovations in the analysis of
He also had contributions in the realm of fluid dynamics of rivers. It is claimed that the term torque was introduced into English scientific literature by Thomson, in 1884.[6]
Publications
James Thomson's main published research reports in physics and engineering were republished as a 500-page collection after his death. The collection is freely available online (see below) and is prefaced by a lengthy (80-page) biography plus a more concise (10-page) biography. It is stated in this book that Thomson is the first to use the words radian, interface and apocentric in English, though he used a number of other neologisms that have not survived.
See also
References
- ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
- ^ "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 25 October 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Glasgow Post Office Directory 1889-90
- ^ "The Late Professor James Thomson, FRS DSc LLD". The Practical Engineer. Manchester. 20 May 1892.
- ^ James Thomson (1873) "A quantitative investigation of certain relations between the gaseous, the liquid, and the solid states of water-substance," Proceedings of the Royal Society, 22 : 27–36. From a footnote on page 28: " … the three curves would meet or cross each other in one point, which I have called the triple point."
- ^ Collected Papers in Physics and Engineering. University Press. 1912.
External links
- Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. .
- Thomson, James (1912). Joseph Larmor & James Thomson (ed.). Collected Papers in Physics and Engineering by James Thomson. Cambridge University Press.