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Baron William Thomson Kelvin (26 Jun 1824 - 17 Dec 1907) Irish physicist, mathematician and engineer , born as William Thomson in Ireland, he became an influential physicist, mathematician and engineer who has been described as the Newton of his era. Short biography of Baron William Thomson Kelvin >>

William Thomson Kelvin
“Many of the greatest advances”

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“Many of the greatest advances that have been made from the beginning of the world to the present time have been made in the earnest desire to turn the knowledge of the properties of matter to some purpose useful to mankind.”

— William Thomson Kelvin

From lecture at Institution of Civil Engineers (1883).

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This quote comes from a lecture delivered at the Institute of Civil Engineers (3 May 1883), one of a series of six lectures on “The Practical Applications of Electricity.” In this lecture, he addressed the “first essential step” in physical science of learning the “principles of numerical reckoning and practical methods for measuring.”

“There cannot be a greater mistake than that of looking superciliously upon practical applications of science. The life and soul of science is its practical application, and just as the great advances in mathematics have been made through the desire of discovering the solution of problems which were of a highly practical kind in mathematical science, so in physical science many of the greatest advances that have been made from the beginning of the world to the present time have been made in the earnest desire to turn the knowledge of the properties of matter to some purpose useful to mankind.”

Lord Kelvin himself had been much involved in the evolution of electric science. He was concerned with, for example, the conductivity of copper, resistances of insulations and the electrostatic inductive capacities of submarine cables. He consulted on the problems associated with the design of the transatlantic telegraph cable, and measuring instruments needed to test its operation. Thus, he had these to introduce as examples of the progress in measurement made in electrical applications, and referred to the submarine cable with which he was familiar. He also discussed the introduction of the various units associated with electrical measurements.

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Nature bears long with those who wrong her. She is patient under abuse. But when abuse has gone too far, when the time of reckoning finally comes, she is equally slow to be appeased and to turn away her wrath. (1882) -- Nathaniel Egleston, who was writing then about deforestation, but speaks equally well about the danger of climate change today.

Carl Sagan: In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion. (1987) ...(more by Sagan)

Albert Einstein: I used to wonder how it comes about that the electron is negative. Negative-positive—these are perfectly symmetric in physics. There is no reason whatever to prefer one to the other. Then why is the electron negative? I thought about this for a long time and at last all I could think was “It won the fight!” ...(more by Einstein)

Richard Feynman: It is the facts that matter, not the proofs. Physics can progress without the proofs, but we can't go on without the facts ... if the facts are right, then the proofs are a matter of playing around with the algebra correctly. ...(more by Feynman)

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