James Prescott Joule
DEC 24, 2015
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.031119
On this date in 1818, physicist James Prescott Joule was born in Salford, England. Joule is most well-known for his work studying the mechanical equivalent of heat, although it was not well-received initially. However, it was key in Hermann Helmholtz’s declaration of the conservation of energy. Joule was also an early supporter of atomic theory and determined the relationship between the current through a resister and the heat it generated.
Date in History: 24 December 1818
© 2015. American Institute of Physics