James Thomson Bottomley (10 January 1845 – 18 May 1926) was an Irish-born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

. He is noted for his work on thermal radiation and on his creation of 4-figure

logarithm In mathematics, the logarithm of a number is the exponent by which another fixed value, the base, must be raised to produce that number. For example, the logarithm of to base is , because is to the rd power: . More generally, if , the ...

tables, used to convert long multiplication and division calculations to simpler addition and subtraction before the introduction of fast calculators.

Background

He was born in Fort Breda,

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, on 10 January 1845, the son of William Bottomley JP, a merchant in nearby

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. His mother, Anna Thomson, was the sister of William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, a connection which served him well throughout his life. He was educated at Queens College, Belfast and then

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

, originally studying natural philosophy and chemistry.

Career

His first employment was as assistant to scientist

Thomas Andrews Thomas Andrews Jr. (7 February 1873 – 15 April 1912) was a British businessman and shipbuilder, who was managing director and head of the drafting department of the shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Ireland. He was the naval ...

. He then became a Demonstrator at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, first in chemistry and then in physics. In 1870 he became a Demonstrator in Physics at

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

. In 1875 this was retitled the Arnott and Thomson Demonstrator in Experimental Physics, following a bequest from the widow of Neil Arnott. In 1872 his uncle

Lord Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (26 June 182417 December 1907), was a British mathematician, Mathematical physics, mathematical physicist and engineer. Born in Belfast, he was the Professor of Natural Philosophy (Glasgow), professor of Natur ...

proposed him as a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

, and this was duly accepted. In June 1888 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. On 5 February 1896 Bottomley was involved in the first demonstration of x-rays in Scotland. His uncle,

, had received papers from Rontgen, but being ill passed them to his nephew, Bottomley, to deal with, also passing special equipment needed for the demonstration. Bottomley engaged Dr John Macintyre an electrical expert at Glasgow Royal Infirmary to make the demonstration. In 1899, again with his uncle, the Glasgow engineering firm of Kelvin, Bottomley & Baird (K.B.B) was formed, specialising in gauges and meters but also producing loudspeakers and telephones. He became its chairman in 1908. In 1913 it became a Limited Company. He lived at 13 University Gardens, Glasgow, in this period.Glasgow Post Office Directory 1911-12 He died in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

on 18 May 1926. His grave stands close to the summit of the

Western Necropolis Western Necropolis is a cemetery complex in Glasgow, Scotland located to the north of the city centre. As well as the actual Western Necropolis cemetery established in 1882, it is bordered by Lambhill Cemetery which opened in 1881, St Kentigern's ...

in Glasgow. The company of Kelvin, Bottomley and Baird continued until 1947.

Family

He married twice: firstly to Annie Elizabeth Heap of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

; secondly to Eliza Jennet Blandy, daughter of Charles R Blandy of

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

. William Thomson, Lord Kelvin and James Thomson were his uncles.

Publications

* ''Dynamics: Theoretical Mechanics.'' 1877 * * ''On radiation from dull and bright surfaces.'' London 1887 * ''On Thermal Radiation in Absolute Measure.'' 1888 * ''Four figure mathematical tables: comprising logarithmic and trigonometrical tables, and tables of squares, square roots, and reciprocals.''

References

External links

Royal Society Picture Library , Portrait of James Thomson Bottomley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bottomley, James Thomson 1845 births 1926 deaths Scientists from Belfast British physicists Fellows of the Royal Society Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society