Rumford Medal

A medal awarded by the Royal Society for important discoveries concerning the thermal or optical properties of matter and their applications. Established in 1800 from a bequest by Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, it was first awarded to Rumford himself, followed by John Leslie in 1804. From 1848 it was awarded biennially. Nineteenth-century recipients included Michael Faraday, James Prescott Joule, and Lord Kelvin. It remains a Royal Society award, now recognising outstanding contributions in physics.