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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