Now assume Lord Kelvin is talking bollocks. Just because you invent "really cold, bordering on quite nippy" doesn't mean you can overlook things like half lives and red shift. If Lord Kelvin lived now I suspect he might have other conclusions - he evaluated the evidence available at the time.
I was deliberately provocative and I'm glad I was. I've got far better responses as a result. I never thought to mention Kelvin and you have dived in and filled in that gap.
The article in SA was and is absolute bollocks. Bear in mind that your and my definition of bollocks may be dissimilar and I am not being disrespectful. The article is very short and does not provide working. It is of its time and I suspect the working is available somewhere else. It gives us a short glimpse of popular science writing 150 odd years ago.