Abstract
BY the many admirers of Lord Kelvin this book will be welcomed. In 1910, Silvanus Thompson wrote the official biography. In the preceding year, Kelvin's sister, Mrs. King, wrote “Lord Kelvin's Early Home,” which gives a delightful picture of him from childhood to adolescence as a member of a singularly gifted and harmonious family. Silvanus Thompson says that he purposely abstained from trenching on that narrative, which brings the story of Lord Kelvin's life to 1849. The gap in the story of his personal and family life from 1849 onwards is now filled up by this book written by his niece, Agnes Gardner King. She presents a very pleasant home picture of the great physicist, showing a very human and lovable side of his character. In the introduction, Sir Donald MacAlister says: “The testimony of an eye-witness in intimate touch with his home, and capable of putting down in simple and vivid words what she saw and heard, will crown as with a garland of home-grown flowers the Centenary Memorial raised to his scientific fame.”
Kelvin the Man.
A Biographical Sketch by his Niece, Agnes Gardner King. Pp. xv + 142 + 12 plates. (London: Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd., 1925.) 7s. 6d. net.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kelvin the Man . Nature 117, 79 (1926). https://doi.org/10.1038/117079b0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/117079b0