A brewer’s tale James Joule: A Biography by Donald S L Cardwell, Manchester
UP, pp 333, pounds 35
ELECTRICITY may be regarded as a grand agent for carrying, arranging
and converting chemical heat,’ wrote the young British physicist James Prestcott
Joule in 1843. At that time, people regarded electromagnetism as scientifically
interesting, perhaps even capable of useful application here and there,
but certainly not central to the life of a manufacturing nation. It was
nearly 50 years before Ferranti’s power station at Deptford could demonstrate
the full possibilities of electrical-power generation. Unlike the preceding
steam age, where improvement could be achieved by a practical process of
‘cut and try’, the electrical age required a scientific foundation, the
key elements of which were: the application of mathematical analysis; a
dynamical theory of heat; the principle of conservation of energy; and the
determination of universally accepted electrical units. Joule played an
important part in laying this foundation.
Joule (1818-1889) was born at Salford, near Manchester where his father
owned a large brewery. James and his elder brother were tutored at home.
In 1834 their father sent them to study chemistry under Dr John Dalton,
the formulator of the atomic theory, who gave them a sound mathematical
training. Joule was under his influence for three years, until a stroke
forced Dalton to give up teaching. Joule later wrote that Dalton ‘possessed
a rare power of engaging the affections of his pupils for scientific truth;
it was from his instructions that I first formed a desire to increase my
knowledge by original research’.
Dalton must have been a remarkable teacher, because many of his other
pupils later achieved distinction. They included Samuel Clegg, engineer,
inventor of the gas meter and proponent of the Atmospheric Railway and Bennett
Woodcroft, who established the London Science Museum.
Joule’s scientific interests began to develop during this period, and
his notebooks record numerous experiments: witnessing the aurora borealis
from the Lake District; sounding Lake Windermere; and studying echoes in
the mountains from Sca Fell. From the beginning, electrical experiments
were his favourite field. He flew electric kites and gave himself and his
friends shocks from Leyden jars and primitive electric machines. He used
‘galvanism’ in experiments on a lame carthorse and even carried out a series
of tests on a woman servant with a powerful voltaic battery. The voltage
was steadily increased and she was told to report her sensations: she did
so, until she became unconscious, at which point Joule advisedly terminated
After his tutelage was over, he was actively engaged in running the
brewery for some years and, with this secure background, he could devote
time to serious research.
At the age of 19, he sent his first written work – a letter on improvements
in the construction of electromagnetic engines – for publication in William
Sturgeon’s periodical Annals of Electricity. The motor proved a failure
because it could barely overcome its own friction so Joule turned his attention
to finding out why. This led him to discover the i**2r heating law for metallic
and liquid conductors, later published in the Philosophical Magazine (1841).
It was his first contribution to the establishment of the concept of energy.
His interest aroused in the more general subject of conservation of energy,
he then began careful experiments to determine the mechanical equivalent
Cardwell’s James Joule: A Biography deals with the sources of Joule’s
ideas and his clarification and proof of the dynamical theory of heat and
the conservation of energy. He includes accounts of his discovery of the
laws of electrical energy; his collaboration with William Thomson (later
Lord Kelvin) and his contribution to the establishment of the Joule-Thomson
effect, whereby a slight fall in temperature occurs when a gas is allowed
to expand without doing external work; and his part in the determination
of universally accepted electrical units.
Cardwell also outlines the important role of the British Association
in bringing together men of science in the mid-19th century. He traces how
science in Britain changed from being a hobby for gentlemen of reasonable
means, to a full-time profession within Joule’s lifetime. Joule was one
of the first British scientists to cooperate with others: firstly, with
the Rev William Scoresby – one-time whaling captain and Arctic explorer
and latterly vicar of Bradford – and secondly, with William Thomson, who
played a crucial role in the championing and propagation of Joule’s ideas.
Cardwell treats at some length the subject of the Manchester school
of science as epitomised by John Dalton. A fine blend of the theoretical
and practical, it provided the right environment for developing concepts
of energy. The school drew its strengths in equal measure from Scotland,
the Continent, local engineering and manufacturing interests and a long
tradition in scientific education in the North West, where, for example,
interest in geometry transcended the class system.
He presents a careful, balanced and thoughtful biography of Joule. He
manages, I think fairly successfully, to tread the narrow path between giving
Joule his rightful place in the field of scientific endeavour and doing
justice to his contemporaries. Nor does he present Joule as always right,
or mild and without blemishes. Joule could be intemperate in his letters,
especially when it involved the neighbours. For instance, in 1861 Joule
and his family moved to a new house called Thorncliff on the Stretford Road,
southwest of Manchester. His neighbours strongly opposed him bringing his
steam engine with him, which he considered necessary for experiments. He
wrote to Thomson: ‘As for the olefiant gas experiment I will try it as soon
as I can get rid of the effect of a most villainous attack on me in the
neighbourhood and convince the people that the report that my experiments
will burn up the vegetation &c &c is an infamous and malicious falsehood.
My chief and most unscrupulous opponent is an Alderman and a Chairman of
a town committee. Two or three of my friends proposed to make a deputation
to conciliate him but I declined to be a party to any step calculated to
increase his self-importance. I shall, I feel confident, gain the day without
Cardwell says that Alderman Bowker had a case: if Joule could carry
out experiments with a steam engine, what could stop an innovative engineer
from experimenting with a new design. So what would prevent the appearance
of vast, smoking mills and factories in what had been a select residential
area? Cardwell communicates the breadth of Joule’s contribution to science.
He gives the reader a clear idea of the influences on him and the way in
which his work came to influence others. He explains Joule’s ideas in the
context of the period, and explains their significance for the development
of our modern world.
This book will interest a wide range of readers: physicists and engineers;
social and economic historians; and those interested in the history of science
and technology. Should you meet someone who asks why a packet of breakfast
cereal describes the energy content in kJ, then tell them to read this book.
Antony Anderson is a consulting engineer. He writes about inventions
and the history of technology.