John Leslie (physicist)

John Leslie
John Leslie
Born10 April 1766 (1766-04-10)
Largo, Fife
Died3 November 1832 (1832-11-04) (aged 66)
NationalityBritish
Known forStudies of heat
Leslie cube
AwardsRumford Medal (1804)
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
Physics
Sir John Leslie by Sir John Steell

Sir John Leslie, FRSE KH (10 April 1766 – 3 November 1832) was a Scottish mathematician and physicist best remembered for his research into heat.[1]

Leslie gave the first modern account of capillary action in 1802[2] and froze water using an air-pump in 1810, the first artificial production of ice.

In 1804, he experimented with radiant heat using a cubical vessel filled with boiling water. One side of the cube is composed of highly polished metal, two of dull metal (copper) and one side painted black. He showed that radiation was greatest from the black side and negligible from the polished side. The apparatus is known as a Leslie cube.

  1. ^ "Leslie, John (1766-1832)" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  2. ^ Leslie, John (1802). "On capillary action". Philosophical Magazine. 1st series. 14 (55): 193–205. doi:10.1080/14786440208676183.