Person: Rankine, William John Macquorn

William Rankine worked on several areas of applied mathematics including mechanics, thermodynamics and waves.

Rankine's interests were divided between music and mathematics.
For two years from 1836 to 1838 Rankine studied at the University of Edinburgh, attending a wide range of lectures in science subjects, but choosing not to attend mathematics classes.
From 1839 to 1841 Rankine worked on numerous projects that John Benjamin MacNeill was involved with, including river improvements, waterworks, railways and both harbours.
Some of the work took Rankine to Ireland.
Further papers read to the Institution of Civil Engineers were highly thought of and several won Rankine prizes.
Rankine was appointed to the regius chair of civil engineering and mechanics at Glasgow in 1855.
Rankine's study of the applications of mathematics began quite early in his career as an engineer.
Both Rankine and Clausius approached the second law of thermodynamics from the point of view of the transformation from one kind of energy to the other.
But whereas Clausius considered the conversion between heat and work and the flow of heat from high to low temperature in a cyclic process, Rankine concentrated on the change from kinetic (molecular) to potential energies, and related this change to heat flow by use of his "heat-potential" function.
Rankine's work was extended by Maxwell.
Rankine also wrote on fatigue in the metal of railway axles, on earth pressures in soil mechanics, and the stability of walls.
Rankine's health deteriorated rapidly during the final six months of his life.

Born 5 July 1820, Edinburgh, Scotland. Died 24 December 1872, Glasgow, Scotland.

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Astronomy, Geography, Origin Scotland, Physics

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O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive