Joule, Mayer, and Others: A Decade-and-a-Half-Long Debate over Priority in the Discovery of the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 609
Author(s):  
Boris Bulyubash
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Community ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Mechanical Equivalent ◽  
Royal Institution ◽  
Private Correspondence ◽  
History Of ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
William Thomson ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
The University

This article reviews the history of a debate over priority in the discovery of the mechanical equivalent of heat that was centered around J. P. Joule and J. R. von Mayer. The following two stages may be distinguished in this debate. During the first stage, those involved in it were Joule and Mayer themselves. While Mayer presented a numerical value for the mechanical equivalent of heat, which was based on the data from Gay-Lussac’s experiment, Joule determined the value of this coefficient in his own experiment although he did it later than Mayer (actually, Joule was unaware of Gay-Lussac’s experiment). This article shows that, in the end, Joule and William Thomson, who also participated in the debate, recognized (even though formally and with reservations) Mayer’s priority. During the second stage of the debate, its participants were British scientists who supported Mayer or Joule. Thus, Mayer’s priority was supported by Professor J. Tyndall of the Royal Institution in London and it was he who initiated the resumption of the discussion. Joule’s priority was advocated by Professor W. Thomson of the University of Glasgow and Professor P. Tait of the University of Edinburgh. It is noted that a personal animosity between Tyndall and Tait, as well as Tyndall’s competitive attitude towards Thomson, had a significant impact on the tone of the debate, and the examples of Tait’s provocative remarks and Tyndall’s reactions are provided. Joule’s involvement during the second stage of the debate that was mostly limited to private correspondence between himself, Tait, Thomson, and Tyndall, is discussed. Over the time elapsed after the first stage of the debate, the level of rejection of Mayer’s arguments by the scientific community had decreased significantly. The awarding of the Royal Society’s Copley Medal to Joule (1870) and Mayer (1871), both of them nominated by Tyndall, came as a symbolic conclusion of the debate.

scholarly journals William Hayes, 18 January 1913 - 7 January 1994

1996 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 173-189
Keyword(s):  
Biological Research ◽  
Special Contribution ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Academic Activities ◽  
Hammersmith Hospital ◽  
History Of ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
Influential Book ◽  
The University ◽  
System Operating

William Hayes, physician, microbiologist and geneticist, made his own special contribution to modem genetics and molecular biology in a manner unlike those of any of his contemporaries. Bill, as he was universally known, was an unlikely candidate for such distinction. It is interesting to speculate on the events which transformed someone likely to have had a distinguished but still traditional medical career into a world renowned scientist who influenced a whole generation of microbiologists and geneticists. He did not come from a family with a history of scientific or academic activities. Nor did he study at the centres of biological research. Moreover, at the beginning of his meteoric rise to eminence, he did not have the support of the scientific elite or access to research resources. It is likely that had he been born 20 years later the originality that he brought to microbial genetics would have been lost to us. Perhaps the situation he found in India during the war and the relative freedom of the research system operating in the United Kingdom in the 1950s ideally suited the talents of Bill Hayes. He was a dedicated experimentalist with a talent for improvisation, and his major contributions were experiments that he did himself, rather than through an assistant or graduate student. He would not have described himself as a leader, although his associates willingly gave him their loyalty and support. Nor would he have thought of himself as having charisma; indeed he was unusually self-effacing. When he gave up experimental work to write his outstanding and extraordinarily influential book, The genetics of bacteria and their viruses (13), he typed the first draft himself. Administration and the power it can provoke were anathema to Bill. Nevertheless, he created, first at Hammersmith Hospital in London and then at the University of Edinburgh, research groups that were the envy of his peers in terms of their productivity and innovation.

2. On the Natural History of Lewis

1866 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 615-625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duns
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Good Deal ◽  
Indigenous Plants ◽  
Full Account ◽  
The People ◽  
Outer Hebrides ◽  
History Of ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
Moral Condition ◽  
The University

Comparatively little attention has been given to the natural history of Lewis. Stray notices of the geology, botany, and zoology of the Outer Hebrides are to be met with, but, with one or two exceptions, these are not of much value. Martin's “Description of the Western Islands (1703),” is chiefly interesting for its full account of the industrial and moral condition of the people. Little, however, can be made of his incidental references to the natural history of the islands. Two volumes on the “Economical History of the Hebrides,” by Rev. Dr Walker, Professor of Natural History in the University of Edinburgh, were published in 1808, after Dr Walker's death. This work contains a good deal of information on indigenous plants, but almost none on zoology. Dr Maculloch's “Description of the Western Islands of Scotland (3 vols., 1819)” is in every way an abler and better work than either of the two now named. Its notices of the geology and mineralogy of the Outer Hebrides are even still valuable.

The Casket Letters: A Famous Case Reopened

1985 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Villius
Keyword(s):  
Small House ◽  
History Of ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
The University ◽  
The Church

The place where the University of Edinburgh now stands was once the site of the church of St Mary in the Fields or, as it is usually called, Kirk o'Field. On a February night in 1567, in the small house close to the church, there occurred what is certainly the most frequently discussed event in the history of Scotland, the murder of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, consort to Mary Queen of Scots. Much discussed it has been, but since it is still not properly resolved it merits another look.

scholarly journals Еміль Балецький - дослідник закарпатських українських говорів (другий етап наукової діяльності) До 100-річчя від дня народження

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-26
Author(s):  
ЄЛИЗАВЕТА БАРАНЬ
Keyword(s):  
Assistant Professor ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
State University ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Slavonic Language ◽  
History Of ◽  
University Of Budapest ◽  
The University ◽  
The Russian Language

Emil Baleczky (his pseudonyms: E. Latorchanin, O. Vyshchak, and his cryptonym: E. A.) is one of the most prominent personalities in the history of Ukrainian studies in Hungary in the twentieth century. His main scientific interests include Transcarpathian dialectology and historical lexicology of the Ukrainian language. The second stage of the scientist's professional carrier is connected with the University of Budapest, where in 1951, Emil Baleczky was appointed head of the Department of the Russian Language at the Institute of Foreign Languages, and at the same time assistant professor of the Russian Institute at the University. Among the scientific interests of Emil Baleczky was the investigation of lexical units commonly used in Transcarpathia, first of all, in terms of their etymology. Among the achievements of the researcher, special attention must be paid to Emil Baleczky's attempt to determine the origin of some borrowed words, including those originally Slavic, which are common in the Carpathian Ukrainian dialects. Emil Baleczky performed a deep etymological and lingual-geographical analysis of the word урик, урюк, орек in the Ukrainian language, that of the word дюг widespread in Precarpathian Ukrainian, Polish, and Slovakian dialects, and also that of the noun kert in Transcarpathian Ukrainian dialects. The author devoted a separate paper to the study of the origin of dialecticisms like фотляк, csulka ~ csurka, бôшн’ак, булґар’, валах, ґириґ, тôўт, and циганин, investigated the etymology of the terms of national dishes widespread in Carpathian Ukrainian dialects, in particular of the token бáник. He considered the role of the Old Church Slavonic language in the history of the Carpathian Ukrainian dialects. According to his contemporaries, it is known that Emil Baleczky did not maintain official connections with the Soviet Transcarpathians but was surprisingly well-informed about the scientific processes in his native land. He analyzed the works contained in the two editions of the Dialectological Collection of Uzhgorod State University. In addition to examining the issues raised, Baleczky complemented, specified, and sometimes criticized the achievements of his colleagues, which indicates his deep knowledge of Transcarpathian Ukrainian dialectology. Thus, we can state that Emil Baleczky's works testify the high professionalism of the author, his profound knowledge in the field of synchronic and diachronic dialectology. The love of Transcarpathian dialects inspired the researcher to study them thoroughly as well as to present the research results to the general public of Slavists. The main area of Emil Baleczky's scientific interest until the end of his life was Ukrainian linguistics, particularly Transcarpathian Ukrainian dialectology. The aim of this paper is to present the Emil Baleczky's achievements in the field of Transcarpathian Ukrainian dialectology, focusing on the period from 1957 to 1979.

scholarly journals SCOTTISH MEDICAL ETHNOGRAPHY: COLONIAL TRAVEL, STADIAL THEORY AND THE NATURAL HISTORY OF RACE, c.1770–1805

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 919-949
Author(s):  
BRUCE BUCHAN
Keyword(s):  
Human Populations ◽  
Scottish Enlightenment ◽  
James Cook ◽  
Historical Progress ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
History Of ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
The University ◽  
Medical Ethnography ◽  
History Of Race

AbstractThis paper will present a comparative analysis of the ethnographic writings of three colonial travellers trained in medicine at the University of Edinburgh: William Anderson (1750–78), Archibald Menzies (1754–1842) and Robert Brown (1773–1858). Each travelled widely beyond Scotland, enabling them to make a series of observations of non-European peoples in a wide variety of colonial contexts. William Anderson, Archibald Menzies and Robert Brown in particular travelled extensively in the Pacific with (respectively) James Cook on his second and third voyages (1771–8), with George Vancouver (1791–5) and with Matthew Flinders (1801–3). Together, their surviving writings from these momentous expeditions illustrate a growing interest in natural-historical explanations for diversity among human populations. Race emerged as a key concept in this quest, but it remained entangled with assumptions about the stadial historical progress or “civilization” of humanity. A comparative examination of their ethnographic writings thus presents a unique opportunity to study the complex interplay between concepts of race, savagery and civilization in the varied colonial contexts of the Scottish Enlightenment.

Construction and Management of a Geo-Historical Information System for an Interdisciplinary and Contributory Atlas: The Historical Atlas of Limousin

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 27-45
Author(s):  
Juliette Morel ◽  
Rémi Crouzevialle ◽  
Anne Massoni
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Data Model ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Temporal Data ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
History Of ◽  
Interdisciplinary Exchange ◽  
The University

At the University of Limoges in the center of France, we started developing an Historical Atlas of the region of Limousin (AHL) in 2014. The Atlas is one part of a project to gather spatial-temporal information and historical sources about the history of the region. It offers an editorial space and cartographic interface where the regional and scientific community can interact, share, and disseminate their historical knowledge and data. As such, this project represents a close interdisciplinary exchange between historians, archeologists, geographers, GIS and data scientists, as well as varied data producers such as public actors (universities, local authorities, archives), private societies (archeology and tourist operators) and associations. This article tells the story of this dialogue and explains the interdisciplinary, multimedia and spatial-temporal data model and public interface that resulted from it.

scholarly journals Historical and other studies of science, technology and medicine in the University of Edinburgh

2008 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Henry
Keyword(s):  
History Of Science ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Significant Feature ◽  
Sociological Study ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Formal Study ◽  
History Of ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
The University

Considering Edinburgh's prominence in the historical development of the sciences, it might be expected that the formal study of the history of science would appear as a significant feature in its university. Alas, this is not so, although there are signs that things are beginning to improve. If there is a deficit in historical studies of science, however, it is surely outweighed by Edinburgh's remarkable contribution to the sociological study of science and technology, which has even given rise to the designation ‘Edinburgh School’ to refer to a characteristic approach to the study of science that was developed in Edinburgh University. In this report I briefly consider the history of these and other aspects of the study of science, technology and medicine in Edinburgh as well as presenting an outline of the current picture.

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