在漫长的生涯里（他活到1907年，享年83岁），他写了661篇论文，总共获得69项专利（因此变得很富裕），在物理学的差不多每个学科都享有盛誉。

Among much else, he suggested the method that led directly to the invention of refrigeration, devised the scale of absolute temperature that still bears his name, invented the boosting devices that allowed telegrams to be sent across oceans, and made innumerable improvements to shipping and navigation, from the invention of a popular marine compass to the creation of the first depth sounder. And those were merely his practical achievements.

其中，他提出一个方法，后来直接导致制冷技术的发明；设计了绝对温标，至今仍冠以他的名字；发明了增压装置，使越洋发送电报成为可能；还对海运和航海作了无数改进，从发明一个深受欢迎的航海罗盘，到创造第一个深度探测器。这些只是他有实用价值的成果。

His theoretical work, in electromagnetism, thermodynamics, and the wave theory of light, was equally revolutionary.

他在电磁学、热力学和光的波动等理论方面的成果同样是革命性的。