William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) was arguably the most famous member of the department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Glasgow. He was born on the 26 June 1824 in Belfast Ireland, and was part of a large family whose mother died when he was aged six. His father taught Kelvin and his brothers mathematics to a level beyond that of university courses of the time. Kelvin's father accepted a post at the University of Glasgow in 1834. At the same time, Kelvin entered the University, aged 10, and had his first papers published at the ages of 16 and 17. These papers contained an argument defending the work of Fourier (Fourier transforms), which at that time was being heavily critici