{"product_id":"degrees-kelvin-a-tale-of-genius-invention-and-tragedy-9780309090735","title":"Degrees Kelvin: A Tale of Genius  Invention  and Tragedy","description":"\u003cp\u003eLORD KELVIN. In 1840  a precocious 16-year-old by the name of William Thomson spent his summer vacation studying an extraordinarily sophisticated mathematical controversy. His brilliant analysis inspired lavish praise and made the boy an instant intellectual celebrity. As a young scholar William dazzled a Victorian society enthralled with the seductive authority and powerful beauty of scientific discovery. At a time when no one really understood heat  light  electricity  or magnetism  Thomson found key connections between them  laying the groundwork for two of the cornerstones of 19th century sciencethe theories of electromagnetism and thermodynamics. Charismatic  confident  and boyishly handsome  Thomson was not a scientist who labored quietly in a lab  plying his trade in monkish isolation. When scores of able tinkerers were flummoxed by their inability to adapt overland telegraphic cables to underwater  intercontinental use  Thomson took to the high seas with new equipment that was to change the face of modern communications. And as the worlds navies were transitioning from wooden to iron ships  they looked to Thomson to devise a compass that would hold true even when surrounded by steel. Gaining fame and wealth through his inventive genius  Thomson was elevated to the peerage by Queen Victoria for his many achievements. He was the first scientist ever to be so honored. Indeed  his name survives in the designation of degrees Kelvin  the temperature scale that begins with absolute zero  the point at which atomic motion ceases and there is a complete absence of heat. Sir William Thomson  Lord Kelvin  was Great Britains unrivaled scientific hero. But as the century drew to a close and Queen Victorias reign ended  this legendary scientific mind began to weaken. He grudgingly gave way to others with a keener  more modern vision. But the great physicist did not go quietly. With a ready pulpit at his disposal  he publicly proclaimed his doubts over the existence of atoms. He refused to believe that radioactivity involved the transmutation of elements. And believing that the origin of life was a matter beyond the expertise of science and better left to theologians  he vehemently opposed the doctrines of evolution  repeatedly railing against Charles Darwin. Sadly  this pioneer of modern science spent his waning years arguing that the Earth and the Sun could not be more than 100 million years old. And although his early mathematical prowess had transformed our understanding of the forces of nature  he would never truly accept the revolutionary changes he had helped bring about  and it was others who took his ideas to their logical conclusion. In the end Thomson came to stand for all that was old and complacent in the world of 19th century science. Once a scientific force to be reckoned with  a leader to whom others eagerly looked for answers  his peers in the end left him behindand then meted out the ultimate punishment for not being able to keep step with them. For while they were content to bury him in Westminster Abbey alongside Isaac Newton  they used his death as an opportunity to write him out of the scientific record  effectively denying him his place in history. Kelvins name soon faded from the headlines  his seminal ideas forgotten  his crucial contributions overshadowed. Destined to become the definitive biography of one of the most important figures in modern science  Degrees Kelvin unravels the mystery of a life composed of equal parts triumph and tragedy  hubris and humility  yielding a surprising and compelling portrait of a complex and enigmatic man.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45647200583733,"sku":"ByrdShop_0309090733","price":52.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780309090735.jpg?v=1781689742","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/degrees-kelvin-a-tale-of-genius-invention-and-tragedy-9780309090735","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}