Home›People & Institutions›Scientists›William Thomson, Lord KelvinScientistsWilliam Thomson, Lord KelvinCitation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextScience Atlas. "William Thomson, Lord Kelvin." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-science.interactiveatlas.org/scientists/william-thomson-lord-kelvin.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextScience Atlas. (n.d.). William Thomson, Lord Kelvin. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-science.interactiveatlas.org/scientists/william-thomson-lord-kelvinCopy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{scienceatlas-william-thomson-lord-kelvin, author = {Science Atlas}, title = {William Thomson, Lord Kelvin}, year = {2026}, url = {https://dev-science.interactiveatlas.org/scientists/william-thomson-lord-kelvin}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXDocumented History and SocietyVerifiedWilliam Thomson, Baron Kelvin, was a Scottish-Irish physicist and engineer who helped develop the second law of thermodynamics and introduced the absolute temperature scale that the kelvin unit is named for.FactsCross-Tradition ConnectionsSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)FactsBirth YearWell-attested1824 1FieldWell-attestedPhysics (thermodynamics) 1Cross-Tradition ConnectionsMember OfUniversity of Glasgow, Institutions Well-attested Source William Thomson, Baron Kelvin (Britannica)tier 1Namesake OfKelvin, Units Well-attested Source William Thomson, Baron Kelvin (Britannica)tier 1ProposedAbsolute Temperature Scale, Concepts Well-attested Source William Thomson, Baron Kelvin (Britannica)tier 1Second Law of Thermodynamics, Theories Well-attested Source William Thomson, Baron Kelvin (Britannica)tier 1Works InPhysics, Disciplines Well-attested Source William Thomson, Baron Kelvin (Britannica)tier 1Thermodynamics, Disciplines Well-attested Source William Thomson, Baron Kelvin (Britannica)tier 1Sources1. William Thomson, Baron Kelvin (Britannica)tier 1Encyclopaedia BritannicaView the SourceComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year