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100 years on, Kelvin is still illuminating
IOP
PW_NOV07
Tue, 30 October 2007
After a long, prolific and groundbreaking life, the British physicist Lord Kelvin died in December 1907, just under a century ago. Best known for his pioneering work in thermodynamics, he profoundly altered our understanding of the nature of heat, gave meaning to temperature, and helped to define energy and the rules by which it can be transformed, thereby propelling technological advances behind the industrial revolution.
As Mark Haw from the School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nottingham writes in this month's edition of Physics World, Kelvin's theory of thermodynamics had such a significant impact on science and industry that it deserves to be called a 'theory of everything'.
Kelvin's theory was essential to the development of engines in smoky Victorian cities. The two laws of thermodynamics - that energy cannot be created or destroyed but only transferred from one form to another, and that the amount of disorder in a system rises with time - are still essential to our understanding of how engines work, but physicists are now discovering that when it comes to the "biological engines" that power life, those laws may have to be revised.
The protein kinesin, for example, moves by transforming energy into motion, but because it is so small - just a few billionths of a metre long - Kelvin's thermodynamics no longer fully applies. The protein does not move smoothly but judders as it does so, with random hesitations, jumps and even backwards steps. Tiny fluctuations in the molecule's energy have to be taken into account if the movement is to be fully understood.
The seeds of Kelvin's theory were planted in 1842 on a canal trip he undertook with his younger brother, watching water flow into the lock to raise the barge, an apt demonstration of energy being converted into work, he pondered upon the wasted energy of the water that splashed over the side.
From steam locomotives to efficient motor engines, from the energy needed to boil an egg to the energy of a rotating galaxy, and most recently, to our very own 'life engines', the anniversary of Kelvin's death gives us all a chance to reflect upon the significance of his remarkable life.
Mark Haw writes, "While other theories like superstring theory aim to tell us what everything is, Kelvin's theory is more a theory of what everything does. When we understand how energy is transformed in all processes - from powering a steam locomotive to powering a cell - then perhaps we will be close to the true theory of everything, and one that may be more profound even than an 11D spacetime."
Also in this issue:
o Using X-ray fluorescence to uncover some of Archimedes' earliest writing
o How interforemeters are being turned into precise inertial sensors
ENDS PLEASE MENTION PHYSICS WORLD AS THE SOURCE OF THESE ITEMS AND, IF PUBLISHING ONLINE, PLEASE CARRY A HYPERLINK TO: http://physicsworld.com
Notes to editors:
1. Physics World is the international monthly magazine published by the Institute of Physics. For further information or details of its editorial programme please contact the editor, Dr Matin Durrani on +44(0)117 930 1007. The magazine's Website physicsweb.org is updated regularly and contains physics news, jobs and resources. Visit http://physicsworld.com
2. For copies of Physics World and advance copies of the articles reviewed here contact: Joe Winters, press officer, The Institute of Physics, Tel: +44 (0)20 7470 4815 or +44 (0)7946 321473, email: joseph.winters@iop.org
3. The Institute of Physics is a scientific membership organisation devoted to increasing the understanding and application of physics. It has an extensive worldwide membership (currently around 34 000) and is a leading communicator of physics with all audiences from specialists through government to the general public. Its publishing company, IOP Publishing, is a world leader in scientific publishing and the electronic dissemination of physics.
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