JAMES
CLERK MAXWELL
13th
June 1831 - 5th November 1879
Sculpted
by Alexander Stoddart.
Commissioned by The
Royal Society of Edinburgh.
James
Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and theoretical physicist,
was born at 14 India Street in Edinburgh's New town.
His most significant achievements was his classical electromagnetic
theory which synthesized all previous observations and
experiments of electricity, magneticism and even optics
into one consistent theory.
Maxwell's
equations demonstrated that electricty, magtetism and light
are manifestations of the same phenomenon, the electro
magnetic field.
He
also developed the Maxwell distribution, a statistical
means to describe aspects of the kinetic theory of gases.
His
discoveries changed the world of physics forever and made
possible future leaps in scientific progress in fields
such as relativity and quantum mechanics. Maxwell even
created the first true colour photograph.
His work has been regarded as the "second great unification
of physics" (The first being credited to Isaac Newton)
His
massive contribution to the world of physics influenced
20th Century scientists such as Albert Einstien who kept
a photograph of Maxwell and Newton on his study wall.
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