Table of Contents

List of illustrations; Preface; Footnote abbreviations; Part I. The Making of the Natural Philosopher: 1. From the ashes of revolution; 2. Clydeside; 3. A Cambridge undergraduate; 4. The changing tradition of natural philosophy; 5. Professor William Thomson; Part II. The Transformation of Classical Physics: 6. The language of mathematical physics; 7. The kinematics of field theory and the nature of electricity; 8. The dynamics of field theory: work, ponderomotive force, and extremum conditions; 9. Thermodynamics: the years of uncertainty; 10. Thermodynamics: the years of resolution; 11. T & T' of treatise on natural philosophy; 12. The hydrodynamics of matter; 13. Telegraph signals and light waves; Thomson versus Maxwell; Part III. The Economy of Nature: The Economy of Nature: The Great Storehouse of Creation: 14. The irreversible cosmos; 15. The age of the sun controversies; 16. The secular cooling of the earth; 17. The age of the earth controversies; 18. The habitation of earth; Part IV. Energy, Economy, and Empire: The Relief of Man's Estate: 19. The telegraphic art; 20. Measurement and marketing: the economics of electricity; 21. Rule, Britannia: the art of navigation; 22. The magnetic compass; 23. Baron Kelvin of Largs; Bibliography; Index.