The Scientific Papers of James Prescott Joule (Cambridge Library Collection - Physical Sciences) Quotes

“The most convincing proof of the conversion of heat into living force [vis viva] has been derived from my experiments with the electro-magnetic engine, a machine composed of magnets and bars of iron set in motion by an electrical battery. I have proved by actual experiment that, in exact proportion to the force with which this machine works, heat is abstracted from the electrical battery. You see, therefore, that living force may be converted into heat, and that heat may be converted into living force, or its equivalent attraction through space.”
― James Prescott Joule, The Scientific Papers of James Prescott Joule (Cambridge Library Collection - Physical Sciences)

“The earth in its rapid motion round the sun possesses a degree of living force so vast that, if turned into the equivalent of heat, its temperature would be rendered at least one thousand times greater than that of red-hot iron, and the globe on which we tread would in all probability be rendered equal in brightness to the sun itself.”
― James Prescott Joule, The Scientific Papers of James Prescott Joule (Cambridge Library Collection - Physical Sciences)