James Clerk Maxwell

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James Clerk Maxwell (June 13, 1831–November 5, 1879) wis a Scots pheesicist, born in Edinburgh. Maxwell developed a set o equations expressin the basic laws o eletric an magnetism as weel as the Maxwell distribution in the kinetic theory o gases. He wis the last member o a cadet brainch o the weel-kent Scots faimlie o Clerk o Penicuik.

Maxwell is aften thocht o as the scientist o the 1800s that haed the maist influence on the pheesics o the 1900s, makkin contreibutions ti the basic models o naitur. In 1931, on the centennial anniversar o Maxwell's birth, Einstein descrieved Maxwell's wark as the "most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton."

Algebraic mathematics wi elements o geometry is a featur o a graet deal o o Maxwell's wark. Maxwell shawed that eletric an magnetic forces is twa complementar aspecks o eletromagnetism. He shawed that eletric an magnetic fields traivels throu space, in the form o waves, at a steady velocity o 3.0 × 10⁸ m/s. He proponed forby that licht wis a form o eletromagnetic radiation.

The scienteific compound derived CGS unit meisurin magnetic flux (aften shortent til f), the maxwell (Mx), is named in his honour. A reenge o muntains on Venus, Maxwell Montes, is named efter him, as weel as the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, the lairgest sub-mm astronomical prospect in the warld, wi a diameter of 15 metres.

[edit] Quotations

"Aye, A suppose A coud stay up that late." — Maxwell, on bein telt on his arrival at Cambridge University that thare wad be a compulsory 6 AM kirk service.

"... I have the capacity of being more wicked than any example that man could set me, and ... if I escape, it is only by God's grace helping me to get rid of myself, partially in science, more completely in society, —but not perfectly except by committing myself to God ..." — Maxwell, circa 1853.

"The special theory of relativity owes its origins to Maxwell's equations of the electromagnetic field" — Albert Einstein

"He achieved greatness unequalled." — Max Planck

"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)" — Ivan Tolstoy (Biographer)

"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. The American Civil War will pale into provincial insignificance in comparison with this important scientific event of the same decade." — Richard Feynman