A SCIENTIFIC genius who spent much of his life living in Largs was born 200 years ago this month - and several events are being held to mark the milestone.
William Thomson, the mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer who later became Lord Kelvin, was born in Belfast on June 26, 1824, but lived for many years at Netherhall in Largs.
He was not just a titan of science but also a pioneer of harnessing innovation and applying it successfully in business.
He was a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, where he undertook significant research and mathematical analysis into electricity and the formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics.
He contributed significantly to unifying physics, which was then in its infancy. and became the first British scientist to be elevated to the House of Lords.
Absolute temperatures are stated in units of Kelvin in his honour.
He also had a career as an electrical telegraph engineer and inventor, and for his work on a trans-Atlantic telegraph project, he was knighted in 1866 by Queen Victoria, becoming Sir William Thomson.
Professor Mark Girolami, chief scientist at the Alan Turing Institute in London, says Kelvin played a groundbreaking role in the evolution of the communication.
He said: "The cable was installed in 1866 between Britain and America and gave people the ability to enjoy fast communications.
"If it wasn't for Lord Kelvin and his technical contributions in making these transatlantic subsea cables operational we wouldn't have the internet as we know now connecting the world.
"All the big tech giants such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft are all completely reliant on this technology.
"All these breakthroughs were made by a Largs man and that should be more widely recognised.
"He was also instrumental in the development of tide predictions which are still used now in the shipping industry. They were also vital during the D-Day landings in World War 2.
"He was very much the forerunner for today's digital age - what he achieved was the 19th century equivalent of NASA putting a man on the moon.
"Lord Kelvin should be considered as the scientific and technical pioneer who laid the foundations upon which we are building the digital revolution."
According to an early edition of the Largs and Millport Weekly News, Lord Kelvin brought the new invention of the telephone to Largs in 1877 and addressed a meeting in town to explain the wonders of the new invention.
Speaking to the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association at the Free Church in Largs, and said that although the telephone was in its infancy, it would develop so that "not only might familiar voices be heard sounding from shore to shore across that mighty sea, but in the manifold relations of our every day life, we should be gifted as it were - that of instantaneously communication with each other, however widely separated by space".
We reported: "After the lecture, a large number of people heard the instruments working, singing, talking etc. being freely indulged in, and the experiment proved highly satisfactory."
Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be awarded a patent for the electric telephone by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in March 18, 1876.
Lord Kelvin was buried in Westminster Abbey, with national honours, on December 23, 1907, next to Sir Isaac Newton's tomb.
There is a plaque commemorating him at his original home.
From June 8, visitors can also learn more about his work at the 'Lord Kelvin: Beyond Absolute Zero' exhibition at Glasgow University’s Advanced Research Centre.
The university's Hunterian Museum, which has a permanent display dedicated to Kelvin, will showcase his life and work via a programme of public events and lectures.
On June 19, The Hunterian’s curator of scientific and medical history collections, Dr Nicky Reeves, will give a 'twilight tour' of Kelvin’s materials and prototypes.
Dr Reeves will also host an online lunchtime talk on June 21 about the hundreds of scientific instruments owned, designed or used by Kelvin and now kept in The Hunterian collection.
Kelvin’s achievements in precision measurement will also be celebrated in the context of modern science in two public lectures.
Nobel laureate Professor Takaaki Kajita will give a talk on June 25 at the Sir Charles Wilson Theatre, focussed on measuring neutrinos and gravitational waves – achievements in high-precision measurements that follow from Lord Kelvin’s own measurement breakthroughs.
The talk is supported by the Institute of Physics and Institute of Physics Scotland.
On June 26, Dr Daniel Mitchell will explore Lord Kelvin’s pioneering research in measurements and quantification and how this forms a principal theme uniting many of his scientific triumphs.
This event, also at the Sir Charles Wilson Theatre, will be followed by a reception at the Hunterian.
For more information on all of the bicentenary events visit gla.ac.uk/explore/lordkelvin200/events/
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