Credit: © The Royal Society
    Image number: RS.7
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    Scientists at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science

    Date
    1889
    Sitter
    William Thomson, Baron Kelvin of Largs (1824 - 1907, British) , Physicist
    Andrew Noble (1831 - 1915, Scottish) , Industrialist
    Osborne Reynolds (1842 - 1912, British) , Engineer
    George Smyth Baden-Powell (1847 - 1898, British) , Politician
    Frederick Augustus Abel, 1st Baronet (1827 - 1902, British) , Chemist
    Frederick Joseph Bramwell (1818 - 1903, British) , Mechanical engineer
    William de Wiveleslie Abney (1843 - 1920, British) , Photographer
    Creator
    Alan Archibald Campbell Swinton (1863 - 1930, British) , Electrical engineer
    Object type
    Image reference
    Material
    Technique
    Dimensions
    height (print): 280mm
    width (print): 390mm
    height (mount): 430mm
    width (mount): 548mm
    Subject
    Description
    Group portrait centred on William Thomson, Baron Kelvin FRS (1824-1907) mathematician and physicist, seated in a wicker chair looking to the left as viewed, with his legs extended. He wears a hat and monocle. Also seated are to the left, Sir Andrew Noble FRS (1831-1915) industrialist and expert in artillery: and to the right, Osborne Reynolds FRS (1842-1912) engineer and physicist. Behind, left-to-right are: Sir George Smyth Baden-Powell (1847-1898) politician and author; Sir Frederick Abel FRS (1827-1902) chemist and explosives expert; Sir Frederick Joseph Bramwell FRS (1818-1903) mechanical engineer; and Sir William de Wiveleslie Abney FRS (1843-1920) civil servant and photographic scientist.

    Frederick Bramwell is posed holding spectacles or a pince-nez in his right hand and peering over Kelvin towards a curved stool in the foreground of the picture, upon which is a pyramid of coloured billiard or snooker balls in a triangular rack.

    Inscribed on the mount “1889”. Paper label verso, inscribed in ink with a key to the sitters. Inscribed in pencil “2668/4”.

    The 1889 meeting of the British Association was held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. William Abney was President of Section A (Mathematical and Physical Science) with Andrew Noble and William Thomson among the vice-presidents. Frederick Abel was a vice-president of Section B (Chemical Science) and Frederick Bramwell a vice-president of Section G (Mechanical Science).

    William Thomson, Baron Kelvin of Largs, was President of the Royal Society 1890-1895.
    Object history
    A print of this photograph, with other scientific portraits, was exhibited at the Royal Society conversazione, 15 May 1929, by A. A. Campbell Swinton.
    Associated place
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