Who was James Clerk Maxwell?
James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) was one of the greatest scientists who have ever lived. To him we owe the most significant discovery of our age - the theory of electromagnetism. He is rightly acclaimed as the father of modern physics. He also made fundamental contributions to mathematics, astronomy and engineering.
Albert Einstein said: "The special theory of relativity owes its origins to Maxwell's equations of the electromagnetic field."
Einstein also said: "Since Maxwell's time, physical reality has been thought of as represented by continuous fields, and not capable of any mechanical interpretation. This change in the conception of reality is the most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton"
Ivan Tolstoy, in his biography of Maxwell, wrote: “Maxwell's importance in the history of scientific thought is comparable to Einstein’s (whom he inspired) and to Newton’s (whose influence he curtailed)”
Maxwell said, in 'A Dynamic Theory of the Electro-Magnetic Field' given to the Royal Society in 1864: “We have strong reason to conclude that light itself - including radiant heat and other radiation, if any - is an electromagnetic disturbance in the form of waves propagated through the electro-magnetic field according to electro-magnetic laws.”
On which Professor R V Jones commented: “This paper is the first pointer to the existence of radiation other than light and heat, and ranks as one of the greatest leaps ever achieved in human thought.”
"He achieved greatness unequalled" Max Planck
"From a long view of the history of mankind - seen from, say, ten thousand years from now - there can be little doubt that the most significant event of the 19th century will be judged as Maxwell's discovery of the laws of electrodynamics" Richard P Feynman
Facts about James Clerk Maxwell
Key dates in the life of of James Clerk Maxwell
In the early nineteenth century, despite many individual advances in knowledge, there was no inkling of a comprehensive theory of electricity and magnetism. In developing this, Maxwell pointed the way to the existence of the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. Defining fields as a tension in the medium, he stated his belief in a new concept - that energies resides in fields as well as bodies. This pointed the way to the application of electromagnetic radiation for such present-day uses as radio, television, radar, microwaves and thermal imaging.
THERMODYNAMICS:
Maxwell made fundamental contributions to the development of thermodynamics. He was also a founder of the kinetic theory of gases. This theory provided the new subject of statistical physics, linking thermodynamics and mechanics, and is still widely used as a model for rarefied gases and plasmas.
SPACE EXPLORATION:
The discovery of electromagnetic radiation led to the development of radio and infra-red telescopes, currently exploring the farthest reaches of space. His brilliant theoretical study of Saturn's rings provided a physical explanation, recently confirmed by a space probe vehicle.
RHEOLOGY:
This is concerned with the investigation and interpretation of the flow behaviour of substances.
It has many roles, extending to quality control, across industry (including the food industry) and in medicine. It can be traced back directly to Maxwell's pioneering theoretical and experimental work on topics, such as viscosity, which are strongly dependent on the molecular structure of free-flowing substances.
PHOTOGRAPHY:
He analysed the phenomenon of colour perception, which led him to invent the trichromatic process.
Using red, green and blue filters, he produced the first colour photography - of a Scottish tartan ribbon. This process (for which we have a short demonstration) was the forerunner of today's modern colour photography.
ENGINEERING:
Maxwell was the first to show how to calculate stresses in framed arch and suspension bridges. He also led the work of the British Association committee which defined most of the electrical units in use today; in the associated experiments he pioneered the use of feedback control.
MATHEMATICS:
His particular gift was the ability to see phenomena in terms of relationships which could be defined by equations, if necessary abandoning a physical analogy. He invented the term "curl" for the vector operator that appears in his equations for the electromagnetic field.
NUCLEAR ENERGY:
Calculating the speed of electromagnetic waves, Maxwell postulated that light is a form of electromagnetic radiation exerting pressure and carrying momentum. This provided the basis for Einstein's work on relativity from which the relationship between energy, mass and velocity contributed to the theory underlying the development of atomic energy.
James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) was one of the greatest scientists who have ever lived. To him we owe the most significant discovery of our age - the theory of electromagnetism. He is rightly acclaimed as the father of modern physics. He also made fundamental contributions to mathematics, astronomy and engineering.
Albert Einstein said: "The special theory of relativity owes its origins to Maxwell's equations of the electromagnetic field."
Einstein also said: "Since Maxwell's time, physical reality has been thought of as represented by continuous fields, and not capable of any mechanical interpretation. This change in the conception of reality is the most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton"
Ivan Tolstoy, in his biography of Maxwell, wrote: “Maxwell's importance in the history of scientific thought is comparable to Einstein’s (whom he inspired) and to Newton’s (whose influence he curtailed)”
Maxwell said, in 'A Dynamic Theory of the Electro-Magnetic Field' given to the Royal Society in 1864: “We have strong reason to conclude that light itself - including radiant heat and other radiation, if any - is an electromagnetic disturbance in the form of waves propagated through the electro-magnetic field according to electro-magnetic laws.”
On which Professor R V Jones commented: “This paper is the first pointer to the existence of radiation other than light and heat, and ranks as one of the greatest leaps ever achieved in human thought.”
"He achieved greatness unequalled" Max Planck
"From a long view of the history of mankind - seen from, say, ten thousand years from now - there can be little doubt that the most significant event of the 19th century will be judged as Maxwell's discovery of the laws of electrodynamics" Richard P Feynman
Facts about James Clerk Maxwell
On the 13th June 1831 James Clerk Maxwell was born in Edinburgh, at 14 India Street, a house built for his father in that part of Edinburgh's elegant Georgian New Town which was developed after the Napoleonic Wars. Although the family moved to their estate at Glenlair, near Dumfries, shortly afterwards, James returned to Edinburgh to attend school at The Edinburgh Academy. He continued his education at the Universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge. In 1856, at the early age of 25, he became Professor of Physics at Marischal College, Aberdeen. From there he moved first to King's College, London, and then, in 1871, to become the first Professor of Experimental Physics at Cambridge where he directed the newly created Cavendish Laboratory. It was at the Cavendish, over the next fifty years, that so much of the physics of today continued to develop from Maxwell's inspiration.
Modern technology, in large part, stems from his grasp of the basic principles of the universe. Wide ranging developments in the field of electricity and electronics, including radio, television, radar and communications, derive from Maxwell's discovery of the laws of the electromagnetic field - which was not a synthesis of what was known before, but rather a fundamental change in concept that departed from Newton's view and was to influence greatly the modern scientific and industrial revolution.
- 1831Born 13 June, 14 India Street
- 1833Moved to Glenlair
- 1841Enrolled, Edinburgh Academy
- 1846Maxwell’s first paper “On the description of oval curves and those having a plurality of foci” Proc Roy Soc Edinburgh, Vol. II
- 1847-50Studied, University of Edinburgh
- 1850Entered Peterhouse College, Cambridge - after one term migrated to Trinity College
- 1854Mathematical Tripos – 2nd Wrangler and First (Equal) Smith’s Prizeman
- 1856-60Appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy at Marischal College, Aberdeen
- 1856Elected Fellow Royal Society Edinburgh (FRSE) aged 24
- 1857Essay on “The Stability of Saturn’s Rings” won the Adams Prize, University of Cambridge
- 1858Marriage to Katherine Mary Dewar on 2 June, Old Machar, Aberdeen
- 1860Paper “Illustrations of the Dynamical Theory of Gasses” where the Maxwell-Bolzman distribution for velocities in a gas are derived
- 1860-65Appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy at Kings College, London
- 1860Awarded Rumford Medal, Royal Society
- 1861Royal Institution, first demonstration on colour reproduction
- 1861Elected Fellow Royal Society (FRS) shortly before 30th birthday
- 1861/2“On physical lines of force”, Phil. Mag. Vols. 21 & 23. Calculates that electric and magnetic effects travel at speed of light and states “..we can scarcely avoid the inference that light consists in the transverse undulations of the same medium which is the cause of electric and magnetic phenomena.”
- 1864Famous oral presentation: “Dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field” presented to Royal Society containing ‘Maxwell’s Equations’ states “.. that it seems we have strong reason to conclude that light itself (including radiant heat and other radiations if any) is an electromagnetic disturbance in the form of waves propagated ……according to the electromagnetic laws”
- 1865Above paper, “Dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field”, formally published in Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., Vol. CLV, London
- 1866Bakerian Lecture of the Royal Society: “On the viscosity or internal friction of air and other gases”, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. (Vol. CLVI) London. Includes measurements made in his London attic
- 1868“On a method of making a direct comparison of electrostatic with electromagnetic force; with a note on the electromagnetic theory of light”, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. (Vol. CLVIII) London, Includes consequence of definitions of electromagnetic and electrostatic units of electric charge which makes their ratio equal to the speed of light
- 1868“On governors”, Proc. Roy. Soc. (Vol. XVI) London. First mathematical treatment of feedback leading to control theory and cybernetics
- 1869Awarded Keith Prize, Royal Society of Edinburgh
- 1870“On reciprocal figures, frames and diagrams of forces”, Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh Vol. 26. This follow-up to a paper by G B Airy on elasticity led to award (see above) of RSE Keith Medal
- 1870“On hills and dales”, Phil. Mag. Vol. 40. An early contribution to the mathematics of topology
- 1870Awarded Doctor of Law (LLD), University of Edinburgh
- 1870Awarded Hopkins Prize, University of Cambridge
- 1870Published his textbook “Theory of Heat”
- 1871Directed and established Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, as First Professor of Experimental Physics
- 1871Second lecture on colour at Royal Institution: “On colour vision”
- 1873Publication of his “Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism“, Oxford University Press
- 1874Elected Foreign Honorary Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston
- 1875Elected Member of American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia
- 1875Elected Corresponding Member, Royal Society of Sciences of Göttingen
- 1876Awarded Doctor of Civil Law (DCL), University of Oxford
- 1876Elected Honorary Member, New York Academy of Sciences
- 1877Published book ‘Matter and Motion’
- 1877Elected Member, Royal Academy of Sciences of Amsterdam
- 1877Elected Foreign Corresponding Member, Mathematico-Natural-Science Class of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of Vienna
- 1878Delivers Rede Lecture at Cambridge: “The Telephone”
- 1878Volta Medal, Doctor of Sciences honoris causa, University of Pavia
- 1879Dies of stomach cancer on 5 November, Cambridge. Buried in Parton, Castle Douglas, Galloway.
- 2008Edinburgh statue unveiled on 25 November
The Impact of Maxwell’s Work
COMMUNICATIONS:In the early nineteenth century, despite many individual advances in knowledge, there was no inkling of a comprehensive theory of electricity and magnetism. In developing this, Maxwell pointed the way to the existence of the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. Defining fields as a tension in the medium, he stated his belief in a new concept - that energies resides in fields as well as bodies. This pointed the way to the application of electromagnetic radiation for such present-day uses as radio, television, radar, microwaves and thermal imaging.
THERMODYNAMICS:
Maxwell made fundamental contributions to the development of thermodynamics. He was also a founder of the kinetic theory of gases. This theory provided the new subject of statistical physics, linking thermodynamics and mechanics, and is still widely used as a model for rarefied gases and plasmas.
SPACE EXPLORATION:
The discovery of electromagnetic radiation led to the development of radio and infra-red telescopes, currently exploring the farthest reaches of space. His brilliant theoretical study of Saturn's rings provided a physical explanation, recently confirmed by a space probe vehicle.
RHEOLOGY:
This is concerned with the investigation and interpretation of the flow behaviour of substances.
It has many roles, extending to quality control, across industry (including the food industry) and in medicine. It can be traced back directly to Maxwell's pioneering theoretical and experimental work on topics, such as viscosity, which are strongly dependent on the molecular structure of free-flowing substances.
PHOTOGRAPHY:
He analysed the phenomenon of colour perception, which led him to invent the trichromatic process.
Using red, green and blue filters, he produced the first colour photography - of a Scottish tartan ribbon. This process (for which we have a short demonstration) was the forerunner of today's modern colour photography.
ENGINEERING:
Maxwell was the first to show how to calculate stresses in framed arch and suspension bridges. He also led the work of the British Association committee which defined most of the electrical units in use today; in the associated experiments he pioneered the use of feedback control.
MATHEMATICS:
His particular gift was the ability to see phenomena in terms of relationships which could be defined by equations, if necessary abandoning a physical analogy. He invented the term "curl" for the vector operator that appears in his equations for the electromagnetic field.
NUCLEAR ENERGY:
Calculating the speed of electromagnetic waves, Maxwell postulated that light is a form of electromagnetic radiation exerting pressure and carrying momentum. This provided the basis for Einstein's work on relativity from which the relationship between energy, mass and velocity contributed to the theory underlying the development of atomic energy.
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