William Rankine was one of the founders of the science of thermodynamics, and for seventeen years the professor of engineering at the University of Glasgow. A physicist, mathematician and engineer of extraordinary range, he turned the study of heat and energy into a practical science that powered the age of steam.
From Edinburgh to Glasgow
Born in Edinburgh in 1820, the son of a civil engineer, Rankine was schooled partly at the High School of Glasgow and studied at the University of Edinburgh before working as a railway engineer. In 1855 he was appointed Regius Professor of Civil Engineering and Mechanics at the University of Glasgow, a post he held until his death.
A founder of thermodynamics
Rankine was, with Rudolf Clausius and his Glasgow colleague Lord Kelvin, one of the three founders of thermodynamics. He developed a complete theory of the steam engine and of all heat engines, coined the term ‘potential energy’, and gave his name to the Rankine scale of temperature and the Rankine cycle that engineers still use today. His story belongs to the city’s great record in science and learning.
The engineer’s teacher
His manuals of applied mechanics, of the steam engine and of civil engineering became the standard textbooks for generations of engineers across the world. He also did pioneering work on the fatigue of metals, on soil mechanics and on the strength of structures.
Science and the Clyde
Rankine worked closely with the shipbuilders of the Clyde, above all his friend James Robert Napier, son of the great Robert Napier, to make naval architecture into a proper engineering science, and he was the first president of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland. His work helped to underpin the shipbuilding that made the river famous the world over.
A man of many parts
A singer, cellist and rifleman as well as a scientist, Rankine died in Glasgow in 1872. He was later named among the inaugural members of the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame, and his name lives on wherever heat engines are designed.
Related questions
Who was William Rankine?
A Scottish engineer and physicist, one of the founders of thermodynamics, and Professor of Engineering at the University of Glasgow.
What is William Rankine famous for?
His foundational work on thermodynamics, including the Rankine cycle and the Rankine temperature scale, and his influential engineering textbooks.
What was his connection to Glasgow?
He was Regius Professor of Civil Engineering and Mechanics at the University of Glasgow for seventeen years, and worked closely with the Clyde shipbuilders.
Who were the founders of thermodynamics?
Rankine is usually counted, alongside Rudolf Clausius and his Glasgow colleague Lord Kelvin, as one of the three founders of the science.