NAME: Lokulo-Sodipe Oluwatimilehin Oluseye
DEPARTMENT: Mechanical Engineering
COURSE: Fundamentals of Thermodynamics
LECTURER: Professor Christian Bolu
DATE: 31st October 2021
TITLE: Famous Names In Thermodynamics.
George Brayton: George Brayton was born on the 3rd of October 1830 at Compton, Rhode Island. He
was the son of William Brayton and Minerva Brayton(How Old Is George Brayton, n.d.). He was an
inventor and mechanical engineer, most famous for his work on internal combustion engines. In 1872
he patented a new type of engine which revolutionized travel.(Butterman, 2012) The Brayton Ready
Motor used hydrocarbons mixed with air as the working fluid that acted on the piston, unlike steam
engines.(Pearce, 2016) On the 17th of December, 1892 Brayton died in Kingsbury, England while
working on a new oil engine.(Henry Harrison Suplee, 1912)
Nicolas Leonard Sadi Carnot: Nicholas Leonard Sadi Carnot: Nicholas Carnot was born on the 1st of
June 1796 to Lazare Carnot who was a military engineer.(Mendoza,(E.d) 2021) Carnot studied at the
Ecole Polytechnique in 1812. Carnot is oftentimes called the father of thermodynamics due to his
book published in 1824 called “Reflections On the Motive Power of Fire” which showed his research
of a theoretical perfect heat engine which is now known as the Carnot cycle.(Crawford, 2012) Carnot
died on the 24th of August 1832 as a result of the cholera epidemic, due to the contagious nature all his
works were buried with him.(O’Conor & Robertson, 1998)
Anders Celsius: Born on the 27th of November 1701, Celsius was a Swedish astronomer and professor
at Uppsala University. In 1736 he participated in an expedition that proved that the Earth flattens at
the poles confirming newton’s theory.( Britannica, 2021.) He is most famous for the creation of the
Celsius scale in 1710 with the boiling point of water at zero and freezing point of water at one
hundred.(Falconer et al., 2018) He died on the 25th of April 1744 at the age of 42 from tuberculosis. A
year after his death, his Celsius scale was changed to resemble what is used today.(‘Anders Celsius’,
2021)
Rudolf diesel: Diesel was born on the 18th of March 1856. He was a thermal engineer and inventor
famous for inventing the internal-combustion engine which revolutionise the transportation industry.(
Britannica, 2021) Diesel patented his design on the 28th of February 1892. Although Diesel thought
his invention would be most useful for small businesses, it found itself used in factories and in heavyduty vehicles (Bellis, n.d.). He died on the 29th of September 1913 committing suicide by jumping
overboard across the English Channel (Hardford, 2016).
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit: Born on the 24th of May 1686 in Poland, Fahrenheit was an inventor and
physicist. He is credited for inventing the alcohol thermometer and the mercury thermometer(
Britannica, 2021). He is most famous for the development of the Fahrenheit scale now used in the
United States, the Bahamas and Puerto Rico(Atitwa, 2018). The Fahrenheit scale pre-dating the
Celsius scale is almost twice as the precision of the Celsius scale(Mersereau, 2015). Fahrenheit died
on the 16th of September 1736 aged 50 in Hague( Britannica 2021).
James Prescott Joule: Born on the 24th of December 1818 in Salford (now part of the Greater
Manchester area.), England, Joule was a physicist most notable for his work on different forms of
energy( Britannica, 2021). He worked at a brewery alongside his work where he did his first
experiment in which he replaced the steam engines with electric ones. This contributed to him
discovering “Joules Law” in 1840(December 1840, 2009). In 1878 he received a pension from the
queen of England for his achievements. He died on the 11th of October 1889 with the number 772.55
(his most accurate measurement of mechanical equivalent of heat.) inscribed on his gravestone(James
Prescott Joule - Biography, Facts and Pictures, n.d.).
Nikolaus August Otto: Born on the 10th of June 1832 in Holzhausen, Nassau, Germany, Otto was a
German engineer famous for developing an effective four-stroke internal combustion engine(
Britannica, 2021.). This engine reduced the weight and increased the power of the petrol engine
making it a better alternative to steam. The four-stroke cycle involved the intake stroke, the
compression stroke, the power stroke and the exhaust stroke(Sack, 2019). Nikolaus Otto died on the
26th of January 1891 in cologne, Germany age 58 from unknown causes leaving behind a wife and a
son who went on to fond the locomotive company BMW(Nikolaus Otto, n.d.).
William John Macquorn Rankine: Born on the 5th of July 1820, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Rankine was
a Scottish engineer and physicist regarded as one of the founders of thermodynamics pertaining to
steam-engine theory( Britannica 2021.). In 1850, Rankine expounded on Carnot’s work by showing
that energy is divided into two kinds, kinetic and potential. He built his theory by considering the
conversion of one kind to another(J J O’Connor & E.F Robertson, 2005). In 1855, he was appointed
to the Queen Victoria chair of civil engineering and mechanics at the University of Glasgow(Sack,
2021). Rankine died on the 24th of December 1872 in Glasgow(William J. M. Rankine, n.d.).
William Thomson: Full name William Thomson, Baron Kelvin of Largs was born on the 26th of June
1824 in Belfast, Northern Ireland(Harold I. Sharlin, 2021). Thomson was an engineer, mathematician
and physicist. He is credited for making the first physics lab in Britain(‘Wikipedia, 2021). Although
he is recognised for the creation of receiving cable signals, deep sea sounding apparatus, and others,
he is most notable for the creation of the temperature scale named after him. The kelvin temperature
scale was first proposed in 1848 and was to be a thermodynamic temperature (not relative to fixed
points.). The minimum value was set at the point where molecular energy is least(Sarah K. Bolton,
n.d.). He died on the 17th of December 1907 in Ayrshire, Scotland(BBC - History - Historic Figures,
n.d.).
James Watt: Born on the 19th January 1736 in Greenock, Scotland, Watt was an inventor and
instrument maker, most notable for his steam engine (Kingsford P.W, 2021). He started work on his
new steam engine after realising the flaws that plagued the Newcomen engine (the most popular
steam engine at the time.)(James Watt Biography - Science Hall of Fame - National Library of
Scotland, n.d.). In 1769 he patented the design of a new condensing chamber whose purpose was to
prevent giant losses of steam. He patented other inventions over the course of his life, such as the
rotary steam engine(About – James Watt, n.d.). Watt died on the 25th of August 1819 in Birmingham,
England(BBC - History - James Watt, n.d.).
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