Rankine - William John Macquorn Rankine

British engineer and physicist. Born in Edinburgh. Educated by his father, an engineer who was the head of the Caledonian Railway, he entered the University of Edinburgh in 1836. After graduating, he worked under the engineer John MacNeill (1793?-1880), engaged in surveying, railway construction, civil engineering, etc. In 1842, he became independent and worked on-site as an engineer, while also publishing several papers at the Institution of Civil Engineers. From the late 1840s, he also actively researched mathematical physics, and based on the extensive experiments on water vapor compiled by the French physicist Regnault in the 1840s, he overturned the theory of steam engines based on the calorie theory at the time, and was involved in cutting-edge work in physics, establishing the foundations of thermodynamics in one fell swoop. He started out with a mechanical method called the "molecular vortex hypothesis," but in 1855 he proposed a general view of the concept of "energy," leading this field alongside his contemporaries W. Thomson (Kelvin) and R. Clausius.

In 1855, Rankin became professor of engineering at the University of Glasgow. From then on, he devoted himself to the task of positioning engineering education in higher education and gaining recognition as an academic discipline, which was lagging behind in the UK at the time. Thanks to the efforts of Rankin and Thomson, the Bachelor of Science degree system was finally introduced in 1872, including those who had completed an engineering course. His works on engineering are permeated with this strong purpose. Starting with A Handbook of Applied Mechanics (1858), he continued with A Handbook of Steam Engines and Movers (1859), A Handbook of Civil Engineering (1862), Shipbuilding - Theory and Practice (1864-1866, co-author), and A Handbook of Machinery and Shop Work (1869), all of which were of the highest standard and went through many editions.

H. Dyell, who was instrumental in promoting engineering education in Japan in the early Meiji period, was a student of Rankine, and his Handbook of Steam Engines and Prime Mover was translated into Japanese in 1886 (Meiji 19) as Rankine's Handbook on Steam Engines and Movers, and was widely read at the Imperial College of Engineering.

[Susumu Takayama]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

イギリスの工学者、物理学者。エジンバラ生まれ。カレドニア鉄道の主事を務めた技術者の父から教育を受け、1836年エジンバラ大学に入学した。卒業後、技術者のマクニールJohn MacNeill（1793？―1880）の下で働き、測量、鉄道工事、土木工事などに従事。1842年独立して技術者として現場の仕事を行うかたわら、土木工学会にいくつかの論文を発表した。1840年代後半からは、数理物理学についての研究も盛んに行い、1840年代にフランスのルニョーがまとめた水蒸気についての膨大な実験に立脚して、当時の熱素説に基づく蒸気機関の理論を覆し、一気に熱力学の基礎を打ち立てるという物理学上の第一線の仕事にかかわった。当初は「分子渦動仮説」という力学的方法から出発したが、1855年には「エネルギー」概念を一般的に把握する見方を提唱し、同時代のW・トムソン（ケルビン）やR・クラウジウスと並んでこの分野をリードした。

　1855年、ランキンはグラスゴー大学の工学講座の教授に就任、以後、高等教育に工学教育を位置づけ、学問としての工学の市民権を獲得するという、当時イギリスで遅れていた仕事に熱心に取り組んだ。ランキンやトムソンの尽力によって、1872年にようやく理学士の学位制度が工学課程の修了者を含む制度として導入された。彼の工学に関する著作はそうした強い目的に貫かれている。『応用力学便覧』（1858）に始まり、『蒸気機関および原動機便覧』（1859）、『土木工学便覧』（1862）、『造船――理論と実際』（1864～1866、共著）、『機械および工場作業便覧』（1869）と続いた著作は、それぞれ最高水準を保ち、多くの版を重ねた。

　明治初期の日本の工学教育に尽力したH・ダイエルはランキンの門下であり、『蒸気機関および原動機便覧』は1886年（明治19）に『蘭均氏汽機学(ランキンしききがく)』として邦訳され、工部大学校で広く読まれた。

［高山　進］

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