Hugh Longbourne Callendar (18 April 1863 – 21 January 1930) was a British physicist known for his contributions to the areas of thermometry and thermodynamics. Callendar was the first to design and build an accurate platinum resistance thermometer suitable for use, which allowed scientists and engineers to obtain consistent and accurate results. He conducted experiments and researched thermodynamics, producing and publishing reliable tables on the thermodynamic properties of steam used for calculations. Callendar worked with multiple institutions during World War I, helping to research and develop useful tools for the Navy. Callendar received awards such as the James Watt Medal of the Institution of Civil Engineers (1898) and the Rumford Medal (1906). He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, and later a member of the Physical Society of London. Callendar was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics three times. He died at home in Ealing, after an operation in 1930.
Birth & education Callendar was born in Hatherop, Gloucestershire as the eldest son of the Reverend Hugh Callendar, a local Anglican rector, and Anne Cecilia Longbourne. He was christened in his father's church on May 24, 1863. His father died in 1867. Callendar developed his skills in languages and mathematics from a young age with assistance from a private tutor, building multiple devices such as induction coils and generators, and teaching himself Morse code by age 10. At age 11, Callendar began his education at Marlborough College, where he participated in football and represented the college in both shooting and gymnastics. Callendar began studying at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1882, obtaining first class honors degree in Classics in 1884 and graduated as the 16th wrangler with first class honors in mathematics in 1885. In 1885 he began studying experimental physics at the Cavendish Laboratory under physicist J.J Thomson, with no practical experience or knowledge of physics. Here he developed his thesis on platinum thermometry and in 1886 he became a Fellow of Trinity. While at Cambridge, he invented a new system of shorthand for writing quickly, which J.J. Thomson learnt and used.
Family and personal life He married Victoria Mary Stewart, whom he met at Cambridge, in 1894 in England. They had a daughter, Cecil (1895), and three sons, Guy Stewart Callendar (1898), Leslie Hugh (1896) and Maxwell Victor (1905). Guy Stewart proposed the effect of carbon dioxide emissions on the climate, known as 'The Callendar Effect'. One of Callendar's interests was motoring. He undertook research on internal combustion engines and purchased a motorcycle in 1902, which he modified and improved himself. In 1904 he purchased and modified a car to use for family travels around England. Hugh's other interests and hobbies included astronomy, nature study, competitive shooting, gymnastics, soccer, tennis, and handicraft, including automotive mechanics. He published a number of works on what he called "Cursive Shorthand" and wrote on English spelling reform.
Career
Resistance thermometry Prior to Callendar's work in the area of thermometry, there lacked an instrument for accurate and reliable temperature measurement. The gas thermometer was the standard for temperature scale at the time. These devices had significant limitations regarding their reliability and practicality, as they were costly and large. The mercury thermometer was also used for temperature measurement, although it had a restricted range and was often too fragile for use. At Cavendish Laboratory, Thomson advised Callendar to study metallic resistance thermometry. Werner von Siemens was the first to propose the use of a platinum resistance temperature detector in 1860, although his instrument readings were unstable. Callendar developed an equation for the resistance of metal as a function of temperature, which was accurate to within 1% from 0-600 °C. This equation was used to develop a standard scale of temperature, which was later accepted by the Committee on Electrical Standards in 1899 to be used internationally. By 1886 he had developed a design for an accurate platinum resistance thermometer, correcting the errors made by Siemens. The thermometer measured temperatures with accuracy from -190 °C to 660 °C. His results were praised by J.J Thomson for providing a new tool that “could determine temperatures with an ease and accuracy never obtainable before”. Callendar improved the heat range of his platinum thermometer from -200 °C up to 1000 °C. His design underwent vigorous testing at the National Physical Laboratory, which yielded confirmation of the reliability of the thermometer. Callendar's platinum thermometer could be used to measure the melting point of metals, allowing it to be used in metal alloying. The apparatus was produced commercially by the Cambridge Instrument Company. The production of modern platinum thermometers were based on Callendar's model with the accuracy continually improved on, such as more purified platinum and making them smaller. His work on the platinum resistance thermometer gave way for the development of the rolling-chart thermometer, which permits the measurement of climatic temperature over time. Although there are many other methods for temperature measurement, platinum resistance thermometers continue to be used. They are primarily used as calibrating devices due to their high levels of accuracy and stability over time.
Thermodynamics Callendar left Cambridge and spent two years working as a professor of physics at Royal Holloway College from 1891 to 1893. In 1893 he commenced at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and was assigned to the second Macdonald Chair in Physics. Leslie, Cecil and Guy were born during this time at McGill. While at McGill, Callendar conducted research on two topics in the area of thermodynamics. The first was research on steam engines alongside Professor of Mechanical Engineering John Thomas Nicolson. The second was the study of electrical and thermal units using calorimetry techniques with Howard Turner Barnes. He also studied and published papers on the heat of gases. He calculated a boiling point of sulfur, which was four degrees below the existing accepted value. The boiling point of sulfur on the International Temperature Scale in 1927 and Callendar's value only differed by 0.07 °C.
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