Article ID: CBB784542822

Watt’s in a name? Units of power and energy (2019)

unapi

The origins and adoption of the units of power and energy watt and joule are examined, along with their relationships to the achievements of their namesakes, James Watt and James Prescott Joule. The watt and joule came about as part of a group of practical electrical units named and defined in the second half of the nineteenth century. The development of that system and its relationship to the French revolutionary metric system and the current Système International (SI) is outlined. William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) and the Siemens brothers had important parts in the story; their roles and the units names after them are also described.

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Authors & Contributors
Amílcar, Martín Medina
Cahan, David L.
Chang, Hasok
Coelho, Ricardo Lopes
Drago, Antonino
Enebakk, Vidar
Journals
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
British Journal for the History of Science
Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society
Notes and Records: The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science
American Journal of Physics
Annals of Science: The History of Science and Technology
Publishers
Oxford University Press
Pickering & Chatto
Concepts
Measurement
Standards and standardization
Physics
Thermodynamics
Metric system
Exactness; precision; accuracy
People
Joule, James Prescott
Kelvin, William Thomson, Baron
Watt, James
Mayer, Julius Robert von
Avogadro, Amedeo
Betancourt y Molina, Agustín de
Time Periods
19th century
18th century
20th century
20th century, early
20th century, late
21st century
Places
Germany
British Isles
France
Polar regions
Institutions
British Association for the Advancement of Science
International Bureau of Weights and Measures
Royal Society (Great Britain). European Science Exchange Programme
Convention du mètre (1875)
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