adj :  being, according to, or relating to an absolute-temperature scale on which the unit of measurement equals a Fahrenheit degree and on which the freezing point of water is 491.67° and the boiling point 671.67°
 
Rankine, William John Macquorn (1820-1872), British physicist and engineer. Rankine was one of the founders of the science of thermodynamics. In 1843 he published a paper on metal fatigue in railway axles that attracted the attention of physicists and railway engineers and brought about new methods of construction. He published in 1858 a Manual of Applied Mechanics that became a classic text for designing engineers and architects, and a year later he introduced a manual on the steam engine that was the first attempt at a systematic treatment of steam-engine theory.
 
 
 
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