Joule here adopts the language of 

vis viva (energy), possibly because Hodgkinson had read

a review of Ewart's On the measure of moving force to the Literary and Philosophical Society
in April 1844.

Further experiments and measurements by Joule led him to estimate the mechanical

equivalent of heat as 838 ft·lbf of work to raise the temperature of a pound of water by one
degree Fahrenheit.[10] He announced his results at a meeting of the chemical section of
the British Association for the Advancement of Science in Cork in 1843 and was met by
silence.

Joule was undaunted and started to seek a purely mechanical demonstration of the
conversion of work into heat. By forcing water through a perforated cylinder, he was able to
measure the slight viscous heating of the fluid. He obtained a mechanical equivalent of
770 ft·lbf/Btu (4.14J/cal). The fact that the values obtained both by electrical and purely
mechanical means were in agreement to at least one order of magnitudewas, to Joule,
compelling evidence of the reality of the convertibility of work into heat.

Joule now tried a third route. He measured the heat generated against the work done in
compressing a gas. He obtained a mechanical equivalent of 823 ft·lbf/Btu (4.43 J/cal).[11] In
many ways, this experiment offered the easiest target for Joule's critics but Joule disposed
of the anticipated objections by clever experimentation. However, his paper was rejected by
the Royal Society and he had to be content with publishing in the Philosophical Magazine.

 In 1845 Joule published a paper entitled "The Mechanical Equivalent of Heat", in
which he specified a numerical value for the amount of mechanical work required to produce
a unit of heat. In particular Joule had experimented on the amount of mechanical work
generated by friction needed to raise the temperature of a pound of water by one
degreeFahrenheit and found a consistent value of 772.24 foot pound force (4.1550 J·cal-1).
Joule contended that motion and heatwere mutually interchangeable and that, in every case,
a given amount of work would generate the same amount of heat. Meyer also published a
numerical value for mechanical equivalent of heat in 1845 but his experimental method wasn't
as convincing.

Though a standardised value of 4.1860 J·cal-1 was established in the early 20th century, in the 1920s,
it was ultimately realised that the constant is simply the specific heat of water, a quantity that varies
with temperature between the values of 4.17 and 4.22 J·g-1·°C-1. The change in unit was the result of
the demise of the calorie as a unit in physics and chemistry.

New scientific discipline—Thermodynamics

The principle of energy conservation involved in Joule’s work gave rise to the
new scientific discipline known as thermodynamics. While Joule was not the first
 scientist to suggest this principle, he was the first to demonstrate its validity.
Although Thomson and a number of other scientists later made significant
contributions to thermodynamics, Joule is correctly recognized as the chief
founder of thermodynamics. He showed that ‘work can be converted into heat
with a fixed ratio of one to the other, and that heat can be converted into work.’ 3
Joule’s principle of energy conservation formed the basis of the first law of
thermodynamics. This law states that energy can neither be created nor
destroyed, but it can be changed from one form into another.
Isaac Asimov called this law ‘one of the most important generalizations in the
history of science’4It means that the total amount of energy (including matter) in
the universe is constant. As S.M. Huse points out in his book, The Collapse of
Evolution, ‘This law teaches conclusively that the universe did not create itself! …
The present structure of the universe is one of conservation, not innovation as
required by the theory of evolution.’5

Landmark paper
In a landmark paper published in 1848, Joule became the first scientist to
estimate the velocity (speed) of gas molecules. This early work on the kinetic
theory of gases was later extended by others, especially outstanding Scottish
mathematical physicist James Clerk Maxwell (another dedicated Christian).
Joule was one of the first scientists to recognize the need for standard units of
electricity, and he strongly advocated their establishment. This standardization
was later done by the British Association for the Advancement of Science under
the direction of Maxwell. Joule became president of the British Association in
1872 and 1887.
In recognition of Joule’s contribution in relating heat and mechanical motion, the
unit of energy (or work) in physics was later named the ‘Joule’.

Joule-Thomson effect
In 1852, Joule began working in cooperation with Thomson. The two scientists
complemented each other perfectly—Joule, the accurate and resourceful
experimenter with only limited training in mathematics, and Thomson, the
mathematically talented physicist concerned with extending the theory
underlying physics.
For the next eight years, Joule worked with Thomson on a number of important
experiments to confirm some of the predictions being made in the new discipline
of thermodynamics. The most famous of these experiments involved the
decrease in temperature associated with the expansion of a gas without the
performance of external work. This cooling of gases as they expand is known as
the ‘Joule—Thomson effect’. This principle provided the basis for the
development of the refrigeration industry.

The mechanical power exerted in turning a magneto-electric machine

is converted into the heat evolved by the passage of the currents of
induction through its coils; and, on the other hand, that the motive
power of the electro-magnetic engine is obtained at the expense of
the heat due to the chemical reactions of the battery by which it is
worked.
 
The knowledge that mechanical work could be converted to heat and that we could
measure and predict how much heat would result from a given amount of work was a
huge discovery - a really big deal. 

To show our appreciation we named a unit of energy after Mr. Joule. It's called,
surprisingly enough, the Joule (J) and in the SI system of units it is equivalent to the
mechanical units of work of 1 Newton (force) meter (length). 1 J = 1 N-m.

In the experiment Joule simply attached a weight by pulley and string to some paddles
in an insulated container of water. The weight turns the paddles as it falls. The turning
paddles do work on the water (they push it all around, "churning it up") equal to the
force of gravity on the weight times the distance (L) the weight is pulled down by the
gravitational force. It's the formula for work - force times distance. By the time the
weight stops, all of it's potential energy at the start of the "fall" has been transferred by
the work process into the water (minus a little friction in the pulley and ropes). What
happened to the energy? If the first law of thermodynamics is true it had to end up
somewhere, it couldn't just dissappear. Joule measured the water temperature and
found the temperature had increased. Yup, the water was a little bit warmer because
the mechanical work of the paddles had increased the energy level of the water
molecules by pushing them around.

Through experiments like this, Joule and others, were able to determine the equivalent
values of thermal energy and mechanical energy. This knowledge allows us to keep
track of all the energy in complicated processes. For example, by knowing that a certain
amount of work can be converted into a certain amount of heat, we are able to
accurately account for all of the fuel's energy as it is converted in an engine, as shown
in the example above. Amazingly enough when measured carefully and accurately, all of
the energy out does equal the energy in.