Lord Kelvin was a good articles nominee, but did not meet the good article criteria at the time. There may be suggestions below for improving the article. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.
Article milestones Date Process Result August 26, 2006 Peer review Reviewed September 25, 2006 Good article nominee Not listed
Current status: Former good article nominee

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Hello! This is to let editors know that File:Sir William Thomson, Baron Kelvin by T. & R. Annan & Sons.jpg, a featured picture used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for June 26, 2024. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2024-06-26. For the greater benefit of readers, any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be done before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. (200th anniversary of his birth) If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you! Adam Cuerden ^(talk)_{Has about 8.6% of all FPs.} 04:31, 1 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Lord Kelvin (26 June 1824 – 17 December 1907) was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer. Born in Belfast, he was Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, where he undertook significant research, including on electricity and the formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics. He was also the first to determine the correct value of absolute zero, and the Kelvin scale of temperature is named in his honour. Kelvin received the Copley Medal in 1883, served as the president of the Royal Society from 1890 to 1895, and in 1892 became the first British scientist to be elevated to the House of Lords. This photograph, taken circa 1900, shows Kelvin resting on a binnacle (the stand for a marine compass) of his invention, and holding a marine azimuth mirror. Photograph credit: T. & R. Annan & Sons; restored by Adam Cuerden Recently featured: The Great Train Robbery Sedge warbler Long Tack Sam Archive More featured pictures

I thought that there was some "bot" that went through Wikipedia articles and found inconsistencies. It is the USUAL practice in Wikipedia articles about peers/nobles that their peerage/noble title is included in the succession-boxes so that someone can QUICKLY track the route of the title from person to person. I can't do that here, because the succession-box doesn't include "Baron Kelvin" (or, if it's atypical, "Baron OF Kelvin"). Why isn't that title included in the succession-boxes in this case, and why isn't its absence AUTOMATICALLY called to the attention of some person? I'm going to have to search this article itself to find out what happened to the title when this man died.2600:1700:6759:B000:E894:BFCC:705D:880 (talk) 09:55, 20 February 2024 (UTC)Christopher Lawrence Simpson[reply]

After reading the article (something I shouldn't have had to do), I find that this man's title "Baron Kelvin" died with him, but the curious statement that it's because he had neither children nor close relations. So, apparently, this title was conferred with an atypical remainder such that absent "legitimate [heirs][male heirs] of the body", it could be inherited by, say, a brother and the brother's descendants or male-line descendants, etc.. That is done of course, (the Dukedom of Wellington was engineered to lower the probability that it would ever become extinct), but if it was done in this case, then say so. Spell it out. Also, the article says he was enobled as much for his opposition to Irish Home Rule as for science. Could that be fleshed out a bit, such as by including the text of the royal action? I've done a word-search on this article for "Irish", "Ireland", and "Home Rule" and I can't find anything about him opposing Irish Home Rule.2600:1700:6759:B000:E894:BFCC:705D:880 (talk) 10:12, 20 February 2024 (UTC)Christopher Lawrence Simpson[reply]

As it says in the infobox, he had no children so he was the first and last. --Cavrdg (talk) 10:02, 20 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

You're only telling that if I take the time to look elsewhere in the article then I could find what I SHOULD have been able to find by an instantaneous down-scroll to the end and check of the succession-boxes. You've done nothing to convince me that the absence of the "Baron Kelvin" title is in accordance with some Wikipedia rule. (And I don't think it IS in accordance with the rules, and if there IS some rule for this article to be allowed to be inconsistent with other articles about peers, then what is that rule and how soon can it be repealed?)2600:1700:6759:B000:E894:BFCC:705D:880 (talk) 10:12, 20 February 2024 (UTC)Christopher Lawrence Simpson[reply]

I just read through what I think you mean by "info-box", and all that it says there is that he had no children. Not only is that not as fast as a quick end-scroll to the bottom, but it's not dispositive of the issue. It DOES NOT say (as you allege) that because he had no children he was the end of the line for this title. All it says is that he had no children, which doesn't settle it. If the title had been granted with an atypical succession, such as allows inheritance through other relatives, his having had no children wouldn't cause the title to die with him. And the article contradicts that anyway, because the article says "His title died with him, as he was survived by neither heirs nor close relations", which implies that his title could have been inherited by someone other than a child had such existed. If the grant of the title provided for a succession ONLY to his children, and he had no children, then that would cause the title to go extinct, and the sentence I quoted would have said (assuming a desire for accuracy which I'm probably a fool to assume) "His title died with him, as he was survived by no children".2600:1700:6759:B000:E894:BFCC:705D:880 (talk) 10:25, 20 February 2024 (UTC)Christopher Lawrence Simpson[reply]

JFTR the letters patent for his barony specify descent to “the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten”, so AIUI it could only pass directly to a son. If he had had any daughters, though, the title might have gone into abeyance rather than becoming extinct.—Odysseus1479 20:32, 1 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I cannot think of a counter-example, but the citation claiming to support this statement (a Britannia article) does not seem to make this claim. Can we find a reference? Beware of sources that derived their information from this Wikipedia article. Second, I wonder why there is the qualification of "British" here. Was there some foreign scientist who earlier had been elevated to the (British) House of Lords? Or can we remove the "British"? JMCHutchinson (talk) 21:04, 25 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

It's in ODNB, quite specifically "the first" (and without any "British" qualification). Done.AntientNestor (talk) 21:31, 25 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The term scientist was coined by Whewell in 1833. The House of Lords included George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll, from 1847, and from 1852 he served as Lord Privy Seal. He was also a scientist (or man of science) and became president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1855. He was still prominent and active in 1892 when Kelvin was elevated to the House of Lords, but of course Argyll inherited the title rather than being elevated as a scientist. . .dave souza, talk 06:53, 26 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The two sources cited in the "Disaster and triumph" section quote different voltages for Wildman Whitehouse's desperate attempt to repair the faulty cable: Sharlin quotes 2,000 Volts, and Hunt agrees, noting that this was the figure from many sources, e. g. Thompson, 1910.^[1] Hunt, however, goes on to report that C. F. Varley tested Whitehouse's kit and found that it could potentially (sorry!) deliver 10,000V to 15,000V. When sources differ, this should be in the article—Wikipedia shouldn't favor one over the other, particularly when it's the minority view among the sources.

--AntientNestor (talk) 19:01, 1 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

• I've removed "10,000 to 15,000V" and put the story into a new footnote.--AntientNestor (talk) 12:53, 4 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I was looking for the famous quote about measurement. I thought it was Kelvin's but wanted to see it in black and white. I couldn't find it. OK, so it is here - buried away in the section on Thermodynamics - as if it only applies to Thermo - and worse yet buried in the middle of some stuff about "In physical science..." I disagree with this. While the 1st sentence quoted (at the bottom of the section, for gosh sakes) is notable, IT IS NOT, I repeat, NOT, nearly as notable as the following sentence:"I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about and express it in numbers you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind: it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of science, whatever the matter may be." So, two points. It, the widely quoted sentence, should appear in the Legacy section. And. The first sentence ("In physical science...") shouldn't be included. It adds NOTHING (IMHO) to his main thought, and is a detail that few of the general public know or care or would care about. I'd guess that for every 100 uses of (all or part of ) the quote "I often say..." sentence there isn't even one that includes the "In physical science..." sentence. Which is another way to express my complaint: what's important needs to be emphasized and what's not not.~2025-39446-09 (talk) 20:55, 23 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I removed the quotation per WP:NOTQUOTE. Wikipedia articles generally do not reproduce quotations verbatim; readers looking specifically for notable quotations are served by Wikiquote. The Wikiquote article for Kelvin is wikiquote:William Thomson and the quotation is indeed highlighted there. The point about measurement can be conveyed in prose if it is relevant to the article's narrative. Jähmefyysikko (talk) 13:44, 25 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]