Childhood
Lord Kelvin, William Thompson, the Irish mathematician and physicist was brought up by his father, sadly his mother died when he was six. He had a very strict Presbyterian upbringing. William and his family moved to Glasgow in 1833, when his dad became the chair of mathematics at Glasgow University.
Wiilliam went to the University of Glasgow when he was ten years old. It was common for the brightest students to start at this age. He had an innate interest for the sciences. When he was fifteen he won a gold medal for his essay entitled The Figure of the Earth.
Wiilliam went to the University of Glasgow when he was ten years old. It was common for the brightest students to start at this age. He had an innate interest for the sciences. When he was fifteen he won a gold medal for his essay entitled The Figure of the Earth.
College
William went to school at Peterson college in Cambridge, England. In 1845 he graduated as Second Wrangler, which is the second highest ranking in mathematics. William was very athletic. He won the Colquhoun Sculls boat race in 1843. Originally he was going to become a Presbyterian minister, but instead at the young age of twenty two he became a professor at St. Peter's University. He held this post for over fifty years. Lord Kelvin was a distinguished man of science in the Victorian Age.