Short answers, pulled from the story.
James Prescott Joule was born on the 24th of December 1818 and grew up on New Bailey Street in Salford, England. He was the son of a wealthy brewer named Benjamin Joule and received early education from scientists John Dalton and William Henry.
James Prescott Joule discovered that the heating effect produced by an electric current was due to the generation of heat within the conductor itself. He estimated the mechanical equivalent of heat as 4.1868 joules per calorie through experiments involving falling weights and paddle wheels in water.
James Prescott Joule challenged the caloric theory by proposing that heat was a form of molecular motion rather than an indestructible fluid. He published results in 1843 that measured the mechanical equivalent of heat with unprecedented precision to prove his kinetic theory of heat.
William Thomson, later known as Lord Kelvin, collaborated with James Prescott Joule from 1852 to 1856 to establish the conservation of energy. Their partnership led to the discovery of the Joule-Thomson effect and brought general acceptance of Joule's work to the scientific community.
James Prescott Joule died at home in Sale on the 11th of October 1889. He is buried in Brooklands cemetery in Sale, where a Wetherspoon pub is named The J. P. Joule after him.