Who is the U.S.S. KELVIN named for?

[Bad Bishop]

Would it be physicist Lord William Thomson Kelvin (1824-1907)? Did he not argue before the Royal Society of England that physics was nearing its end, and that there was nothing new to be discovered? Did he not also say that heavier-than-air flying machines were impossible? Is this the visionary scientist for whom a starship is named, in Abrams' Trek universe?

 

[Pavonis]

Why not? Even if Lord Kelvin wasn't as visionary as some, he was still a significant figure in science.

On the other hand, U.S.S. Kelvin could be named for Kevin Kelvin, the first President of Earth. Who knows?

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

^
^^ Lord Kelvin -- the same physicist who perfected (albeit, did not formulate) the Second Law of Thermodynamics that we use today. Since he was on of the scientist who helped unify the various fields of study into what we call "Physics" today, I wouldn't doubt that Abrams would use his name...

...just like on Lost when he named one of his main characters after the philosopher John Locke.

 

[EyalM]

I read somewhere that Kelvin was Abrams' grandfather. But it makes sense in-universe too.

 

[cultcross]

Would it be physicist Lord William Thomson Kelvin (1824-1907)? Did he not argue before the Royal Society of England that physics was nearing its end, and that there was nothing new to be discovered? Did he not also say that heavier-than-air flying machines were impossible? Is this the visionary scientist for whom a starship is named, in Abrams' Trek universe?

He also contributed significantly to science, and coined the term 'kinetic energy'. He may have been a tad overzealous in condemning things, but that doesn't take away from the work he did.
Perfect person to name a ship after.

 

[Jon1701]

I read somewhere that Kelvin was Abrams' grandfather. But it makes sense in-universe too.

Yeah, I read that.

He uses the name in most of his projects, apparently.

 

[Eric Cheung]

All of the above are true.

 

[Kryton]

Who cares...the guy was an absolute zero.

 

[Brian]

From a TrekMovie interview:

Orci and Kurtzman talk Kelvin
TrekMovie: Any background to the name Kelvin?
Roberto Orci: It is JJ [Abrams] grandfather’s name
Alex Kurtzman: JJ’s grandfather had a company named Kelvin and Kelvin has appeared in everything he has done. It was in MI3, it was in Alias and Felicity.
Orci: Kelvin is also a big name in science with the temperature scale named after him, and there is certainly a believable reason that Starfleet would have a ship named after him.

 

[Bad Bishop]

Would it be physicist Lord William Thomson Kelvin (1824-1907)? Did he not argue before the Royal Society of England that physics was nearing its end, and that there was nothing new to be discovered? Did he not also say that heavier-than-air flying machines were impossible? Is this the visionary scientist for whom a starship is named, in Abrams' Trek universe?

He also contributed significantly to science, and coined the term 'kinetic energy'. He may have been a tad overzealous in condemning things, but that doesn't take away from the work he did.
Perfect person to name a ship after.

And maybe it's perfectly symbolic that this ship is destroyed early in the film.

 

[Capn Flukie]

Kelvin was also in Lost as Kelvin Inman, Desmond's hatch buddy. Hm, that doesn't sound quite right...

 

[zenophite]

and maybe it's just a familiar name that somebody picked for no apparent reason other than it popped into their head.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

I'd rather have starships named after scientists than starships named generals.

 

[Bad Bishop]

I'd rather have starships named after scientists than starships named generals.

But why? Doesn't "U.S.S. Wesley Clark" send a tingle through your leg?

and maybe it's just a familiar name that somebody picked for no apparent reason other than it popped into their head.

Does anyone figure that there'll be more stuff that's in the film for no apparent reason?

 

[zenophite]

Does anyone figure that there'll be more stuff that's in the film for no apparent reason?

Some people might say there's no reason for the women to be wearing miniskirts but I'm not one of them.

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

Does anyone figure that there'll be more stuff that's in the film for no apparent reason?

Yeah -- most likely there will be fictional place names and character names that don't mean anything -- nor do they need to mean anything.
If they end up going to a planet named , say, "Creitus IV", I don't expect there needs to be a reason behind the name "Creitus".

But in the case of your original post -- The USS Kelvin -- it could be said that it was named after a noted physicist who apparently just happens to share a name with Abrams' grandfather, which makes two good reason to name the ship the "Kelvin"...or, like someone said above, it could be named after some fictional future important person named "Kelvin".

Either way, I don't see a problem with the name.

 

[Franklin]

Who cares...the guy was an absolute zero.

^^^^^
Boooooo! Agggghhhh!

If it's for Lord Kelvin, wouldn't one suppose it's a science vessel?

 

[Brian]

From the same TrekMovie interview as post #9:

TrekMovie: Would you describe the [Kelvin] as a science vessel?
Orci: All ships — even the Enterprise is a vessel of science.
TrekMovie: True, but certain ships, like the Grissom, were specifically science ships.
Orci: Then, I don’t think I would describe it as a strict science ship.

 

[Shatmandu]

It's for Kelvin Sampson, disgraced IU basketball coach.

Joe, noted Trek historian

 

[Cyke101]

Would it be physicist Lord William Thomson Kelvin (1824-1907)? Did he not argue before the Royal Society of England that physics was nearing its end, and that there was nothing new to be discovered? Did he not also say that heavier-than-air flying machines were impossible? Is this the visionary scientist for whom a starship is named, in Abrams' Trek universe?

If you haven't already, I'd suggest reading "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson. It's a fun book that often goes into interesting stories (but never anecdotes) about many MANY of history's greatest scientists over the centuries, many of whom declared that there was no more to learn in their respective fields, that they learned all that humanity could ever learn (you'd be surprised how often they'd say that). And that's not all; a few of them go out of their way to disprove things that are common knowledge today (ie the existence of atoms). And yes, even Einstein is in the collection. The funny thing is, a lot of the scientists who've said that are regarded today in the modern scientific world as heroes, such as Einstein and Kelvin.