Background
Tait was born in Dalkeith, Scotland on April 28, 1831. He was the son of the former Mary Ronaldson and John Tait, who was secretary to the duke of Buccleuch.
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
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(One of the most celebrated scientists of the 19th century...)
One of the most celebrated scientists of the 19th century, William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, was said to have more letters after his name than any man in the British Empire. His prodigious accomplishments included both theoretical insights and significant inventions. Among his contributions to theory were advances in hydrodynamics, an innovative synthesis of the mathematical relationship between electricity and heat, and major work in the second law of thermodynamics. In the practical realm he created the absolute temperature scale (which bears his name); worked on the development of the first transatlantic telegraph cable; and invented a telegraph receiver, a compass adopted by the British Admiralty, a form of analog computer for measuring tides, and sounding equipment. Always in the forefront of the leading scientists of the day, he collaborated with James Clerk Maxwell, Hermann von Helmholtz, James Prescott Joule, and Peter Guthrie Tait. The Elements of Natural Philosophy was done with Tait, a pioneering physicist and mathematician whose work in advanced algebra formed the basis of vector analysis and was instrumental in the later development of modern mathematical physics. An abridgement of their original Treatise on Natural Philosophy, this work was designed to be accessible to students with a basic knowledge of algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. As such it is a book that nonspecialists can still appreciate. Like Isaac NewtonÆs great summation of ônatural philosophyö in the late 17th century (The Principia Mathematica), this work remains of interest to historians of science because it represented a similar summation of the grand synthesis that scientists, building upon NewtonÆs work, envisioned at the end of the 19th century. Not long after its publication, however, was the advent of relativity and quantum physics, which considerably changed and enlarged the picture of the natural world as conceived by earlier generations of scientists.
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(Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.
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(Book by Kelvin, Lord William Thomson, Tait, Peter Guthrie)
Book by Kelvin, Lord William Thomson, Tait, Peter Guthrie
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(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
This book was originally published prior to 1923, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work, maintaining the same format as the original work. While some publishers have opted to apply OCR (optical character recognition) technology to the process, we believe this leads to sub-optimal results (frequent typographical errors, strange characters and confusing formatting) and does not adequately preserve the historical character of the original artifact. We believe this work is culturally important in its original archival form. While we strive to adequately clean and digitally enhance the original work, there are occasionally instances where imperfections such as blurred or missing pages, poor pictures or errant marks may have been introduced due to either the quality of the original work or the scanning process itself. Despite these occasional imperfections, we have brought it back into print as part of our ongoing global book preservation commitment, providing customers with access to the best possible historical reprints. We appreciate your understanding of these occasional imperfections, and sincerely hope you enjoy seeing the book in a format as close as possible to that intended by the original publisher.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B3LT6UK/?tag=2022091-20
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
This book was originally published prior to 1923, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work, maintaining the same format as the original work. While some publishers have opted to apply OCR (optical character recognition) technology to the process, we believe this leads to sub-optimal results (frequent typographical errors, strange characters and confusing formatting) and does not adequately preserve the historical character of the original artifact. We believe this work is culturally important in its original archival form. While we strive to adequately clean and digitally enhance the original work, there are occasionally instances where imperfections such as blurred or missing pages, poor pictures or errant marks may have been introduced due to either the quality of the original work or the scanning process itself. Despite these occasional imperfections, we have brought it back into print as part of our ongoing global book preservation commitment, providing customers with access to the best possible historical reprints. We appreciate your understanding of these occasional imperfections, and sincerely hope you enjoy seeing the book in a format as close as possible to that intended by the original publisher.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AYQFK14/?tag=2022091-20
mathematical physicist scientist professor of natural philosophy
Tait was born in Dalkeith, Scotland on April 28, 1831. He was the son of the former Mary Ronaldson and John Tait, who was secretary to the duke of Buccleuch.
He was taught first at Dalkeith Grammar School and, after his father’s death, at a school in Circus Place and later at the Academy, both in Edinburgh.
With his mother and his two sisters Tait lived in Edinburgh with an uncle, John Ronaldson, who introduced the boy to geology, astronomy, and photography.
Tait entered Edinburgh University in 1847, and after a session there went in 1848 to Peterhouse, Cambridge, where his tutor was William Hopkins.
As a fellow and lecturer of his college he remained in Cambridge for two years longer, and then left to take up the professorship of mathematics at Queen's College, Belfast.
There he made the acquaintance of Thomas Andrews, whom he joined in researches on the density of ozone and the action of the electric discharge on oxygen and other gases, and by whom he was introduced to Sir W. R. Hamilton and quaternions.
He graduated as senior wrangler and first Smith’s Prizeman in 1852.
(Second in the tripos was another student at Peterhouse, W. J. Steele, with whom Tait collaborated on his first book, Dynamics of a Particle (1856).
In 1854 Tait left Cambridge, where he was a fellow of his college, to become professor of mathematics at Queen’s College, Belfast.
His colleague there was Thomas Andrews, with whom he collaborated in research on the density of ozone and the results of electrical discharge through gases.
Other colleagues were Charles Wyville Thomson, who later was scientific leader of the Challenger expedition, and James Thomson, brother of William, Lord Kelvin, and discoverer of the effect of pressure on the melting point of ice
As a fellow and lecturer of his college he remained in Cambridge for two years longer, and then left to take up the professorship of mathematics at Queen's College, Belfast.
In 1860 he was chosen to succeed his old master, J. D. Forbes, as professor of natural philosophy at Edinburgh, and this chair he occupied till within a few months of his death, which occurred on the 4th of July 1901, at Edinburgh.
The first scientific paper that appears under Tait's name only was published in 1860.
His earliest work dealt mainly with mathematical subjects, and especially with quaternions (q. v. ), of which he may be regarded as the leading exponent after their originator, Hamilton.
In 1862, for example, he wrote a paper jointly with J. A. Wanklyn on electricity developed during evaporation.
He was the author of two text-books on them-one an Elementary Treatise on Quaternions (1867), written with the advice of Hamilton, though not published till after his death, and the other an Introduction to Quaternions (1873), in which he was aided by Professor Philip Kelland (1808 - 1879), who had been one of his teachers at Edinburgh.
In 1873 he took thermoelectricity for the subject of his discourse as Rede lecturer at Cambridge, and in the same year he presented the first sketch of his well-known thermoelectric diagram before the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
In his controversial Sketch of the History of Thermodynamics (1868), a highly prejudiced and pro-British account, the reputations of J. R. Mayer and Clausius suffer, while Kelvin and Joule are often praised at their expense.
Two years later researches on " Charcoal Vacua " with J. Dewar led him to see the true dynamical explanation of the Crookes radiometer in the largeness of the free path of the molecule of the highly rarefied air.
In the same connection Tait wrote a classic paper on the trajectory of a golf ball (1896).
Between 1886 and 1892 he published a series of papers on the foundations of the kinetic theory of gases, the fourth of which contained what was, according to Lord Kelvin, the first proof ever given of the Waterston-Maxwell theorem of the average equal partition of energy in a mixture of two different gases; and about the same time he carried out investigations into impact and its duration.
Tait disliked intensely the vector methods of J. W. Gibbs and Oliver Heaviside, and in a long exchange of polemics tended to have the worst of the argument.
In his controversial Sketch of the History of Thermodynamics (1868), a highly prejudiced and pro-British account, the reputations of J. R. Mayer and Clausius suffer, while Kelvin and Joule are often praised at their expense.
Many other inquiries conducted by him might be mentioned, and some idea may be gained of his scientific activity from the fact that a selection only from his papers, published by the Cambridge University Press, fills three large volumes.
With Lord Kelvin he collaborated in writing the well-known Treatise on Natural Philosophy. "
The friendship, however, endured for the twenty-three years which yet remained of Tait's life. Tait collaborated with Balfour Stewart in the Unseen Universe, which was followed by Paradoxical Philosophy.
Among his articles may be mentioned those which he wrote for the ninth edition of this Encyclopaedia on Light, Mechanics, Quaternions, Radiation and Thermodynamics, besides the biographical notices of Hamilton and Clerk Maxwell.
(One of the most celebrated scientists of the 19th century...)
(Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
(Book by Kelvin, Lord William Thomson, Tait, Peter Guthrie)
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
In 1857 he married Margaret Archer Porter, the sister of two Peterhouse friends.
