By 1847, Thomson had already gained a reputation as a precocious and maverick scientist when he attended the British Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Oxford. In 1848, he extended the Carnot–Clapeyron theory still further through his dissatisfaction that the gas thermometer provided only an operational definition of temperature. Thomson developed a complete system for operating a submarine telegraph that was capable of sending a character every 3.5 seconds. He patented the key elements of his system, the mirror galvanometer and the siphon recorder, in 1858.
William Thomson (aka Lord Kelvin) enters Glasgow University at 10 years, 4 months (not out of any precociousness; the University also functioned as an elementary school)
