The fact that the distinguished scientist, Lord Kelvin, was one of the first presidents (1892-3) of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) was the rewarding discovery of meticulous research into members’ obituaries. The discovery has led to the establishment of the IMarEST Lord Kelvin Lectures to be given by distinguished members of the maritime community taking his foresight and applying it to the development of future technologies.
“We are delighted to establish this new series of lectures to reflect upon Lord Kelvin’s achievements and vision,” says IMarEST’s Chief Executive, Keith Read CBE. “Our Marine Information Centre (MIC) is one of the foremost marine libraries in the world and is constantly adding to its range of services. Gathering together all the available obituaries of former members of the Institute and putting them online for use by researchers resulted in the serendipitous discovery of Lord Kelvin’s link with the Institute.
“He, of course, achieved world-wide fame in the sphere of pure science; and was equally successful in the application of his knowledge of physics to practical uses. Among his numerous inventions, those by which he will be chiefly remembered by the maritime community are his patent ship’s compass and sea-sounding apparatus, now universally adopted. This new series of lectures is an invaluable addition to our calendar of events, and we are looking forward to a highly stimulating inaugural lecture by Peter French, Chief Executive of the BMT Group.”
The inaugural lecture, which will be sponsored by BMT Group Limited and which marks the centenary of the distinguished scientist’s death, will be delivered on Wednesday 12 December 2007 at the City Conference Centre at IMarEST HQ, 80 Coleman Street, London EC2R 5BJ. Attendance at the lecture is free of charge, but those wishing to attend need to register online at www.imarest.org/events/lordkelvin/ or contact Christine Davenport, Events Department, IMarEST on +44 (0)20 7382 2655; Fax: +44 (0)20 7382 2667; email: events [at] imarest [dot] org . As has become traditional for all IMarEST evening lectures, guests are greeted with tea at 17.00; the lecture begins at 17.30; and a reception is held at 18.45.
About the speaker
Peter French is Chief Executive of BMT Group Limited. A maritime civil engineer, he joined BMT in 1990. He is also a member of the Boards of ITIC (International Transport Intermediaries Club) and AIRTO (Association of Independent Research & Technology Organisations), member of Council of RINA, Chairman of the Society of Maritime Industries, a member of the Industrial Advisory Board of the School of Engineering Sciences at the University of Southampton and a Vice President of ECMAR (European Co-operation in Maritime Research).
About Lord Kelvin
The Rt Hon Lord Kelvin, who died on 17 December 1907, was elected a member of what was then The Institute of Marine Engineers in June 1892. Born in 1824 at Belfast, William Thomson matriculated at Glasgow in his tenth year, and at 22 was appointed professor. IMarEST’s research reveals that, as President, he was in the chair at the second annual dinner of the Institute, held in London at the Holborn Restaurant in 1892. The report explains that in his address at the dinner, Lord Kelvin said that to give an address worthy of the Institute was ‘not a task that he could enter upon with a light heart’. He could ‘only speak as a humble admirer of the great work of marine engineering and as one of the general public that profited by the work of the marine engineer’.
He went on to recollect the very beginning of marine engineering, through his father, in the first place, and in the second place through what he had experienced himself. The full report of his address in which he recalled trips between his home in County Down ’to land at some point on the coast of Scotland and find his way to the University of Glasgow, there to pursue his studies’, makes fascinating reading and will be part of the records that will be accessible online by IMarEST members (in the meantime, it is available via the IMarEST MIC)
On one occasion he sailed from Belfast to Greenock in twelve hours, ‘a smart passage’. On another occasion he was four days on the passage and sailed three times round Ailsa Craig. ‘No branch of engineering, no branch of science which aimed at supplying the wants of mankind had made greater progress in the last sixty years than had the department of marine engineering’ reads the report of his address.
“Lord Kelvin’s account of the importance of marine engineering, and of marine engineers and of the engines including the Watt’s parallel motion; Napier’s side lever engine, described as ‘a capital engine’; steeple engines that soon developed into the vertical engine, makes absorbing reading,” says Keith Read.
“The departure from the paddle to the screw; and fear and then acceptance of high pressure boilers also came under the ‘Kelvin spotlight’ during what must have been a fascinating evening. And his belief that ‘surely it was something for marine engineers to be proud of, that they had produced engines which in circumstances of special difficulty, where space must be economised to the utmost, and weights reduced to the minimum, had yielded just about the very best duty in HP per lb of coal that had ever been obtained from any kind of engine since the invention of the steam engine’ makes you wonder what he would make of the strides that have been taken over the last 115 years. I think he would be inordinately proud of the massive achievements of our members, past and present.”
