of independent means, he erected, with the help of his father, an
astronomical observatory at his residence. In this well-equipped
building he made many photographic researches, especially into the
nature of nebulae. He also devoted himself to solar physics, and
wrote some remarkable papers on the sudden appearance in 1903 of the
star Nova Persei. He was the first to call attention to the
probability that radium plays a part in the maintenance of solar
heat. In fact, the science of radio-activity was engaging his keenest
interest at the time of his early death.

A.A. Rambaut (b. Waterford 1859), F.R.S., formerly Astronomer Royal
for Ireland and now Radcliffe Observer at Oxford, is one of the
leading astronomers of the day.

PHYSICISTS.

Lord Kelvin, better known as Sir William Thompson (b. Belfast 1824,
d. 1907), F.R.S. Amongst the greatest physicists who have ever lived,
his name comes second only to that of Newton. He was educated at
Cambridge, became professor of natural philosophy in Glasgow
University in 1846, and celebrated the jubilee of his appointment in
1896. To the public his greatest achievement was the electric cabling
of the Atlantic Ocean, for which he was knighted in 1866. His
electrometers and electric meters, his sounding apparatus, and his
mariners' compass are all well-known and highly valued instruments.
To his scientific fellows, however, his greatest achievements were in
the field of pure science, especially in connection with his
thermodynamic researches, including the doctrine of the dissipation
or degradation of energy. To this brief statement may be added
mention of his work in connection with hydrodynamics and his magnetic