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281
Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
62
CHAPTER
IV.
SIR
WILLIAM
THOMSON.
Sir
William
Thomson,
the
greatest
physicist
of
the
age,
and
the
highest
authority
on
electrical
science,
theoretical
and
applied,
was
born
at
Belfast
on
June
25,
1824.
His
father,
Dr.
James
Thomson,
the
son
of
a
Scots-Irish
farmer,
showed
a
bent
for
scholarship
when
a
boy,
and
became
a
pupil
teacher
in
a
small
school
near
Ballynahinch,
in
County
Down.
With
his
summer
earnings
he
educated
himself
at
Glasgow
University
during
winter.
Appointed
head
master
of
a
school
in
connection
with
the
Royal
Academical
Institute,
he
subsequently
obtained
the
professorship
of
mathematics
in
that
academy.
In
1832
he
was
called
to
the
chair
of
mathematics
in
the
University
of
Glasgow,
where
he
achieved
a
reputation
by
his
text-books
on
arithmetic
and
mathematics.
William
began
his
course
at
the
same
college
in
his
eleventh
year,
and
was
petted
by
the
older
students
for
his
extraordinary
quickness
in
solving
the
problems
of
his
father's
class.
It
was
quite
plain
that
his
genius
lay
in
the
direction
of
mathematics;
and
on
finishing
at
Glasgow
he
was
sent
to
the
higher
mathematical
school
of
St.
Peter's
College,
Cambridge.
In
1845
he
graduated
as
second
wrangler,
but
won
the
Smith
prize.
This
'consolation
stakes'
is
regarded
as
a
better
test
of
originality
than
the
tripos.
The
first,
or
senior,
wrangler
probably
beat
him
by
a
facility
in
applying
well-known
rules,
and
a
readiness
in
writing.
One
of
the
examiners
is
said
to
have
declared
that
he
was
unworthy
to
cut
Thomson's
pencils.
It
is
certain
that
while
the
victor
has
been
forgotten,
the
vanquished
has
created
a
world-wide
renown.
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