James Joule
The great experimenter who was guided by God
by Ann Lamont, B.Sc., M.Ed.St.
James Prescott Joule was born at Salford, near Manchester, England, on December
24, 1818. He was the second of five children born to a wealthy brewery owner. As
a child, James was weak and shy, and suffered from a spinal disorder. Because of
these limitations, he preferred studies to physical activity. Although his spinal
problem later improved, it affected him throughout his life.
James was educated at home until he was 15. He then went to work in the family brewery.
However, he and his older brother continued their education part-time with private
tutors in Manchester.
From 1834 until 1837, they were taught chemistry, physics, the scientific method,
and mathematics by the famous English chemist John Dalton. (Like James Joule, Dalton
was a Bible-believing Christian.) James gratefully acknowledged the key role that
Dalton played in his becoming a scientist. ‘It was from his instruction that
I first formed a desire to increase my knowledge by original researches’,
Joule said.1
When their father became ill, James and his brother took over running the brewery.
James therefore did not have the opportunity to attend university. However, his
great desire was to continue to study science, so he set up a laboratory in his
home and began experimenting before and after work each day. James saw this desire
to study science as a natural consequence of his Christian faith. As he later wrote,
‘it is evident that an acquaintance with natural laws means no less than an
acquaintance with the mind of God therein expressed.’2
Exciting experiments
In 1839, Joule began a series of experiments involving mechanical work, electricity
and heat. In 1840, he sent a paper entitled ‘On the Production of Heat by
Voltaic Electricity’ to the Royal Society in London—probably the most
prestigious association of British scientists.
In this paper, he showed that the amount of heat produced per second in a wire carrying
an electric current equals the current (I) squared multiplied by the resistance
(R) of the wire. The heat produced is the electric power lost (P). (That is, P=I2R.)
This relationship is known as Joule’s Law. The Royal Society showed little
enthusiasm for Joule’s paper, and published only a brief summary of his findings.
In 1843, Joule calculated the amount of mechanical work needed to produce an equivalent
amount of heat. This quantity was called ‘the mechanical equivalent of heat’.
Again he presented a paper on his findings—this time to the British Association
for the Advancement of Science. Again the response was unenthusiastic. Several leading
journals also declined to publish papers on Joule’s work.
Many British scientists were hesitant to accept his work, but Joule patiently persisted.
New ideas often take time to gain acceptance, especially if they are put forward
by an amateur in that field. Joule’s findings challenged the caloric theory
of heat which most physicists believed in at that time. In the caloric theory, heat
was believed to be a fluid substance.
Another stumbling block to the acceptance of Joule’s findings was a disbelief
of the incredible accuracy of his measurements. But Joule was patient and ingenious
in his experiments. These attributes greatly assisted him in avoiding errors and
in obtaining results far more accurate than those of previous experimenters.
Important endorsement
Joule’s work on the relationship of heat, electricity and mechanical work
was largely ignored until 1847. His work then came to the attention of William Thomson.
(Thomson, who was later known as Lord Kelvin, was another famous scientist who was
a committed Christian.)
Although only 23 years old at the time, Thomson was already Professor of Physics
at the University of Glasgow. Thomson recognized that Joule’s work fitted
in with the unifying pattern that was beginning to emerge in physics and he enthusiastically
endorsed Joule’s work. (In fact, Joule’s work made a significant contribution
to the process of unifying the fragmented sections of physics.)
Other enthusiastic supporters of Joule’s work were Michael Faraday and George
Stokes. Both were famous scientists who were committed Christians. This endorsement
by a few eminent supporters opened doors which previously had been closed to Joule.
The Royal Society was now prepared to give him another hearing. In 1849, Joule read
his paper entitled ‘On the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat’ to the Royal
Society, with Faraday as his sponsor. In the following year, the Royal Society published
Joule’s paper and he was elected a member of its prestigious ranks.
New scientific discipline—Thermodynamics
The principle of energy conservation involved in Joule’s work gave rise to
the new scientific discipline known as thermodynamics. While Joule was not the first
scientist to suggest this principle, he was the first to demonstrate its validity.
Although Thomson and a number of other scientists later made significant contributions
to thermodynamics, Joule is correctly recognized as the chief founder of thermodynamics.
He showed that ‘work can be converted into heat with a fixed ratio of one
to the other, and that heat can be converted into work.’3
Joule’s principle of energy conservation formed the basis of the first law
of thermodynamics. This law states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed,
but it can be changed from one form into another.
Isaac Asimov called this law ‘one of the most important generalizations in
the history of science’4 It means that the total amount of energy
(including matter) in the universe is constant. As S.M. Huse points out in his book,
The Collapse of Evolution, ‘This law teaches conclusively that the
universe did not create itself! … The present structure of the universe is
one of conservation, not innovation as required by the theory of evolution.’5
While evolutionists cannot explain how this constant amount of energy/matter originated*,
the Bible does provide an explanation—only God can create out of nothing.
The Bible also teaches that God sustains what He created. All other changes, either
by man or the forces of nature, are merely rearrangements of what already exists.
Joule was aware of the religious implications of his findings. He wrote that ‘it
is manifestly absurd to suppose that the powers with which God has endowed matter
can be destroyed any more than they can be created by man’s agency’.6
The law of conservation of energy was completely consistent with the Bible, whereas
Joule considered that some aspects of the caloric theory had not been consistent
with the Bible.
On another occasion, Joule wrote that ‘the phenomena of nature, whether mechanical,
chemical, or vital, consist almost entirely in a continual conversion … into
one another. Thus it is that order is maintained in the universe—nothing is
deranged, nothing ever lost, but the entire machinery, complicated as it is, works
smoothly and harmoniously … the whole being governed by the sovereign will
of God.’7
Landmark paper
In a landmark paper published in 1848, Joule became the first scientist to estimate
the velocity (speed) of gas molecules. This early work on the kinetic theory of
gases was later extended by others, especially outstanding Scottish mathematical
physicist James Clerk Maxwell (another dedicated Christian).
Joule was one of the first scientists to recognize the need for standard units of
electricity, and he strongly advocated their establishment. This standardization
was later done by the British Association for the Advancement of Science under the
direction of Maxwell. Joule became president of the British Association in 1872
and 1887.
In recognition of Joule’s contribution in relating heat and mechanical motion,
the unit of energy (or work) in physics was later named the ‘Joule’.
Joule-Thomson effect
In 1852, Joule began working in cooperation with Thomson. The two scientists complemented
each other perfectly—Joule, the accurate and resourceful experimenter with
only limited training in mathematics, and Thomson, the mathematically talented physicist
concerned with extending the theory underlying physics.
Tragically, Joule’s wife died in 1854 after only six years of marriage, leaving
him with their young children. Shortly afterwards, Joule’s family sold the
brewery. Joule then led a relatively secluded life. He was now able to devote himself
more fully to his scientific work.
For the next eight years, Joule worked with Thomson on a number of important experiments
to confirm some of the predictions being made in the new discipline of thermodynamics.
The most famous of these experiments involved the decrease in temperature associated
with the expansion of a gas without the performance of external work. This cooling
of gases as they expand is known as the ‘Joule—Thomson effect’.
This principle provided the basis for the development of the refrigeration industry.
Gifted experimenter
During his association with Thomson, Joule humbly took on the practical role of
experimentally investigating theoretical issues raised by Thomson. This was the
less prestigious role in the fruitful partnership, but Joule was more concerned
with achieving worthwhile results than with gaining recognition.
However, it should be remembered that Joule had earlier made great theoretical contributions
in his own right. As H.J. Steffens says in his biography on Joule: ‘He was
certainly more than “just an excellent experimenterâ€?. His experiments
led and shaped his speculations, but his speculations stood boldly against accepted
scientific theory and postulated a new, exact order in the universe.’8
Joule displayed an amazing clarity in conceiving, executing, describing and explaining
his experiments. Unlike many scientists, it was rare for Joule to follow blind alleys
or make incorrect observations. In most cases, his original notes were almost clear
enough for publication without subsequent revision. This demonstrated his extraordinary
clarity of mind.
Trusted in Bible
Joule was a sincere Christian, known for his patience and humility. He believed
in finding God’s will and obeying it.
He saw no contradiction between his work as a scientist and his confidence in the
truth of the Bible. Many of his fellow scientists shared his views. ‘In response
to the tide of Darwinism then sweeping the country ... 717 scientists signed a remarkable
manifesto entitled The Declaration of Students of the Natural and Physical Sciences,
issued in London in 1864. This declaration affirmed their confidence in the scientific
integrity of the Holy Scriptures. The list included 86 Fellows of the Royal Society.’9
James Joule was among the more prominent of the scientists who signed the document.
From 1872 onwards, Joule’s health deteriorated and he did little further work.
He died at Sale, Cheshire, England, on October 11, 1889.
Joule firmly acknowledged God as Creator. His own words set out the priorities by
which he lived—‘After the knowledge of, and obedience to, the will of
God, the next aim must be to know something of His attributes of wisdom, power and
goodness as evidenced by His handiwork.’10
References
- J.P. Joule in a brief autobiography written in January 1863. Published in Memoirs
and Proceedings of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, vol.
LXXV (1930–1931), no. 8, p. 110.
- J.P. Joule, in a paper found with his scientific notebooks, as cited in: J.G. Crowther,
British Scientists of the Nineteenth Century, Routledge & Kegan Paul,
London, 1962, p. 139.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1992, Vol. 28, p. 612.
- I. Asimov, Biographical Encyclopaedia of Science and Technology: The Lives and
Achievements of More Than 1000 Great Scientists from Ancient Greece to the Space
Age, second ed., 1982, Doubleday & Co. Inc., Garden City, New York, p.
399.
- S.M. Huse, The Collapse of Evolution, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan,
1983, p. 59.
- J.P. Joule, quoted in: O. Reynolds, Memoir of James Prescott Joule, Manchester
Literary and Philosophical Society, 1892, p. 27.
- Ref. 1, p. 110. H.J. Steffens, James Prescott Joule and the Concept of Energy,
Folkestone, Dawson, 1979, p. 142.
- H.M. Morris, Men of Science, Men of God, Master Books, El Cajon (California),
1982, pp. 74–75.
- Ref. 2, p. 138.
Footnote
*The ‘big bang’ theory makes no attempt to explain how its hypothesized
concentration of matter originated.
|
