What role did George Green’s work on electricity and magnetism play in William Thomson’s scientific ideas?

George Green’s 1828 work, An Essay on the Application of Mathematical Analysis to the Theories of Electricity and Magnetism, was a foundational influence on William Thomson’s scientific development.1

When Thomson received a copy of this essay in 1845, it became one of the primary components—alongside the work of Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Fourier—from which he shaped his worldview. These texts provided the mathematical framework that allowed Thomson to create his pioneering synthesis of the relationship between electricity and heat.1

By applying these mathematical techniques, Thomson was able to bridge disparate areas of physics, including electricity, magnetism, and thermodynamics. His ability to draw generalizations from experimental results using such analysis helped him formulate concepts that contributed to the dynamic theory of energy. Furthermore, this theoretical foundation proved essential for his later work in engineering, specifically in solving the problem of signal delay in long-distance submarine telegraph cables.21