Henry Cavendish prefiguring thermodynamics. Theoretical physicist Dietrich Belitz concluded that in this work Cavendish "got the nature of heat essentially right." As Cavendish performed his famous density of the Earth experiment in an outbuilding in the garden of his Clapham Common estate, his neighbours would point out the building and tell their children that it was where the world was weighed. In honour of Henry Cavendish's achievements and due to an endowment granted by Henry's relative William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire, the University of Cambridge's physics laboratory was named the Cavendish Laboratory by James Clerk Maxwell, the first Cavendish Professor of
Durham University Department of Physics The department offers 3-year (bachelor's) undergraduate courses in physics and physics & astronomy, 4-year (master's) courses in physics, physics & astronomy and theoretical physics and also participates in joint honours and natural science programmes with other departments of the university. Taught and research based master's degrees and research based PhDs are available at postgraduate level. All research takes place within the department, whilst teaching also takes place in various locations around the university. The Ogden Professor of Fundamental Physics is a professorship or chair in the Department of Physics at Durham University. The chair is named after Sir Peter Ogden.