19th century in science Carnot captured some of the ideas of thermodynamics in his discussion of the efficiency of an idealized engine. Sadi Carnot's work provided a basis for the formulation of the first law of thermodynamics—a restatement of the law of conservation of energy—which was stated around 1850 by William Thomson, later known as Lord Kelvin, and Rudolf Clausius. Lord Kelvin, who had extended the concept of absolute zero from gases to all substances in 1848, drew upon the engineering theory of Lazare Carnot, Sadi Carnot, and Émile Clapeyron–as well as the experimentation of James Prescott Joule on the interchangeability of mechanical, chemical,
19th-century history of the Catholic Church in the United States 19th-century history of the Catholic Church in the United States The 19th-century history of the Catholic Church in the United States was characterized by several unsuccessful attempts by Catholics to culturally integrate themselves into the mainstream American culture of that century. Only during the 20th century did this fully succeed, with the election of John F. Kennedy to the presidency in 1960. During the 19th century, a wave of immigrants from Ireland, Germany, Italy, Eastern Europe and elsewhere swelled the number of Roman Catholics. Substantial numbers of Catholics also came from French Canada during the mid-19th century and settled in