JOULE, JAMES PRESCOTT. — Born in Salford near Manchester on 24 December 1818, died at Sale (Cheshire) on 11 October 1889. Along with the Germans J. R. Mayer and H. V. HELMHOLTZ, HERMANN VON, he is considered a founder of the theory of heat.
On the basis of numerous and accurate experiments, some of them fundamental to the progress of the sciences, he determined the thermal equivalent of work (1843) and the law bearing his name concerning the thermal effects of the electric current (v. UNITÀ E DIMENSIONI FISICHE). In his writings he admires the wisdom of God the Creator in the laws governing the universe.
BIBL.: C. L. Kneller, Il cristianesimo ed i naturalisti moderni, Italian translation, Brescia 1906, pp. 23–28.
Cesco Toffoli