James Joule FRS, an English physicist, discovered the law of conservation of energy – the relationship between natural heat to mechanical work
Biographical Overview
Born in England, 1818-1889 Physicist Developed the first law of thermodynamics and established Joule’s Law – a unit of energy measurement (joule)
The Royal Society, Fellow Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, President (1860) British Association for the Advancement of Science, President (1872, 1887)
Awards
Royal Medal Copley Medal Albert Medal
Worldview
Using a biblical worldview perspective, Joules successfully applied the scientific method to investigate the laws of nature, His worldview is notable from what he said –
“[I]t is evident that an acquaintance with natural laws means no less than an acquaintance with the mind of God therein expressed.”
“[T]he 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.”
