James Clerk Maxwell: A LIFE FROM BEGINNING TO END (Biographies of Physicists Book 5), by Hourly History.

................................................................................................

James Clerk Maxwell: A LIFE

FROM BEGINNING TO END

(Biographies of Physicists Book 5)

Hourly History.

................................................................................................

...............................................................................................

Written not badly except too much emphasis on religion. Is Hourly History entirely a church business?

................................................................................................

"“He is a very happy man, and has improved much since the weather got moderate; he has great work with doors, locks, keys, etc., and ‘show me how it doos’ is never out of his mouth. He also investigates the hidden course of streams and bell-wires, the way the water gets from the pond through the wall.”

"—Frances Cay, describing her son James Clerk Maxwell"

................................................................................................

"As it pertains to his eventual career choice, one of young Maxwell’s early milestones that paved the way was a scientific paper that he composed at the age of 14. The paper contained a detailed analysis of how curves could be fashioned with the use of a simple piece of string and focused on the possible use of mechanical devices to help draw geometric shapes. This treatise on shapes, lines, and curves proved to contain much more than that. Upon closer examination, it housed equations on a little something called bi-focal curves which would prove of import for future work with optics."

"Leaving the academy at age 16, Maxwell enrolled at the University of Edinburgh. The University of Edinburgh appealed to him due to the all-star staff that presided there at the time. The staff was comprised of such notables as James Forbes, Philip Kelland, and Sir William Hamilton. These formed the wellspring from which Maxwell drank his education. James Forbes in particular proved to be a source of great inspiration for Maxwell, especially when it came to doing experiments in the lab. Forbes allowed Maxwell to use his personal lab and equipment to carry out many of his early scientific endeavors. Among them were some of his first experiments in the field of electromagnetism.

"When Maxwell went back to Glenlair to visit his family, he had a working lab waiting for him there as well. This one, much more ramshackle, was constructed by Maxwell himself. Situated above the family washhouse, the chaotic space was referred to by his relatives as “Jamesie’s dirt.” It was indeed dirty and grimy, but these were just the kinds of places that Maxwell used early on to hone his intellectual abilities. Here he made his first electromagnetic contraptions, fashioned batteries, and constructed electro-plated canning jars. He also studied how light worked through prisms and how prismatic light permeated through various substances such as jelly in order to determine the distribution rate of the light.

"Just a couple of years later, at the age of 18, Maxwell would write his ground-breaking treatise called “On the Equilibrium of Elastic Solids.” This work would be important later on when Maxwell worked on the concept that shear stress can lead to double refraction in viscous liquids. Maxwell’s papers were considered to be rather ingenious by those who read them, but he was still considered too young to take his case to the Royal Society himself. So it was that Maxwell’s tutor often had the task of presenting the work to the Royal Society in his place. Regardless of how the paper was presented, the Royal Society was absolutely amazed.

................................................................................................

"Maxwell would ultimately graduate from Trinity in the year 1854 with a mathematical degree. Soon after having received his degree, he delivered a new mathematical treatise, “On the Transformation of Surfaces by Bending,” to the Cambridge Philosophical Society. This was a purely mathematical paper and perfectly exhibited Maxwell’s soon to be world-renowned skillset. His next major treatise was a paper about the nature of light entitled “Experiments on Colour,” which he personally presented to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in March of 1855. Soon thereafter Maxwell, now a fellow of Trinity, was asked to run the speaker’s circuit at his alma mater, lecturing students on the latest scientific breakthroughs.

"After making the rounds on the lecture circuit, Maxwell was then persuaded to put in an application for a full-time professorial position at Marischal College in the Natural Philosophy Department. It was while he was in the process of applying to this new role that Maxwell would be struck with the tragedy of his father passing away on April 2, 1856. Sadly, John would not get to see his son’s acceptance as the newest member of the faculty, but Maxwell was determined to make his father proud all the same. It was John that had encouraged Maxwell’s love of science and his love for life in general more than anyone else. Maxwell would hold the times that he had with his father dear for the rest of his life, but more importantly, he would hold himself to a high standard and make sure to retain the honor and acclaim of his great family name."

................................................................................................

" ... After his father’s passing, he was the master of his father’s Scottish estate of Glenlair where he would spend much of his downtime. In these days, Maxwell was the quintessential Scottish bachelor, and his home at Glenlair reflected as much. It boasted a modest cottage for his personal dwelling and well cared for yards and gardens as its surroundings. It was a simple life that Maxwell led when he returned home, but it was one that he loved.

"Bouncing back and forth between his beloved countryside estate and the campus of Marischal College, Maxwell seemed to be a man always on the run. At the school, he was dedicated to 15 hours’ worth of lectures weekly. Wishing to cram in as much as he could within that 15-hour window, Maxwell made the classes he held stewardship over a whirlwind of an affair. It is said that while quite brilliant in his teaching, Maxwell’s rapid-fire pace was often hard for his students to keep up with. He was also known to drift from topic to topic in such a fashion that it could at times be aggravating to the listener. Maxwell was so fragmented in his speech that he could be talking about the latest equations in electromagnetism one minute and what he had for breakfast the next. One can only imagine Maxwell’s students vigorously taking notes to try to keep up with the lightning speed of their professor.

................................................................................................

"Along with lecturing students, Maxwell also devoted a considerable amount of time to his continued efforts in scientific research. Electromagnetism was of course still in the forefront. Also among these efforts was an inquiry into the planet Saturn’s rings. Researchers had struggled for centuries to figure out how the rings of Saturn stayed in perfect orbit around the planet without falling apart. Many long-winded debates had ensued over whether Saturn’s rings were solid or if they were an orbiting river of fluid held in perfect balance with the planet. James, who was a lover of all things in perfect geometric symmetry, decided to give this long-asked question a try for himself.

"In 1857, St. John’s College in Cambridge happened to be conducting an inquiry into the matter, offering an award called the Adams Prize to anyone that could provide a convincing solution. Maxwell spent the better part of two years attempting to solve this riddle. Armed with his expert knowledge in regard to liquids and solids, James Clerk Maxwell determined that the rings of Saturn consisted of neither because a solidified ring would not be able to maintain stability and a liquified ring would break up in blobs.

"So, what was his solution? Maxwell proposed that the rings must be made up of small particles, which he termed “brickbats.” An odd-sounding name perhaps, but Maxwell was able to get his point across. He turned in an elaborate and detailed report showcasing his entire theory, and it didn’t take long for the judges to determine him to be the winner of the contest. At the time no one knew for sure whether Maxwell was right or wrong, but he had made the most convincing effort and argument. It was on the basis of this monumental effort that he was awarded the prize. The idea that Saturn’s rings were made up of many small orbiting objects would be confirmed over a century later by the Voyager spacecraft sent to Saturn in the 1980s. In honor of Maxwell’s erudite prediction, NASA would later name one of Saturn’s physical features after the scientist. The space between the rings of the planet is now known as the “Maxwell Gap.”"

................................................................................................

" ... Maxwell married Katherine on June 2, 1858. The first couple of years of the Maxwells’ marriage would be good ones, but 1860 would prove to be a rather difficult time. Maxwell, despite all of his distinction, found himself dismissed from his professorship at Marischal College. This was due to no fault of his own; it was a simple effort to downsize the staff after a merger was made between Marischal and nearby King’s College of Aberdeen, Scotland. As the faculties of the two schools were combined, many of the key roles ended up with duplicate posts. In Maxwell’s case, it was a decision of keeping him or dismissing the incoming head of Natural Philosophy from King’s College, David Thomson. Thomson was a seasoned member of King’s faculty and considered indispensable.

"Initially, Maxwell took the matter in stride and attempted to gain the seat formerly occupied by his old mentor Forbes at Edinburgh University. This post was ultimately denied him in favor of his old friend and schoolmate Peter Guthrie Tait. In the midst of this turmoil, Maxwell’s health would deteriorate in the form of a bad case of smallpox. His symptoms were dreadful, but after finally being awarded a new professorship—this time at King’s College in London—Maxwell managed to recoup and moved with his wife to the bustling British capital."

................................................................................................

"“Mathematicians may flatter themselves that they possess new ideas which mere human language is as yet unable to express. Let them make the effort to express these ideas in appropriate words without the aid of symbols, and if they succeed they will not only lay us laymen under a lasting obligation, but, we venture to say, they will find themselves very much enlightened during the process, and will even be doubtful whether the ideas as expressed in symbols had ever quite found their way out of the equations into their minds.”

"—James Clerk Maxwell"

One could equally well say that nothing in English language has any meaning or validity unless its simultaneously translated in every other language and understood in those all other languages by every English-speaking person of the world of every age.

................................................................................................

" ... Maxwell was urging his students to think outside the box and to not just accept what has already been learned and taught but to push the envelope further and make discoveries of their own.

"Maxwell not only gave lectures during this period; he also attended them. As it turned out, the urban landscape of London opened up many more opportunities for him to hear the latest in intellectual and scientific thought. This was most especially the case when it came to lectures held both by the Royal Society and the Royal Institution. The latter of which was a beneficiary of the legacy of another great British scientist, Michael Faraday, a man who though much older than Maxwell—he was in his seventies at the time—Maxwell was able to meet and develop a relationship with.

"As his lecture circuit continued, it was at the Royal Institution that Maxwell gave a memorable presentation on the topic of color vision in the summer of 1861. This lecture was the fruit of many years of research, entailing amongst other things Maxwell and his wife staring at the light refracting box in the attic. But Maxwell wasn’t going to show his audience merely sunlight refracted by a box—he was going to do nothing short of presenting the world’s very first durable color photograph.

................................................................................................

"In his early thirties, Maxwell embarked upon what would become an obsession. He was searching to bring to fruition a theory on electromagnetism that would fill in all the blanks left behind by others and answer all of the age-old questions once and for all. In doing so, he had to account for the four known effects of electricity and magnetism:

"1. Opposite electrical charges attract and like charges repel with a force inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the two.

"2. Opposite magnetic poles attract; like poles repel with a force inversely proportional to the distance between them, and poles always occur in north/south pairs.

"3. The electrical current of a wire creates a circular magnetic field, with its orientation dependent upon that of the current.

"4. Fluctuating magnetic fields through a loop of wire induces an electrical current in the wire, with its orientation dependent upon whether the fluctuation increases or decreases."

................................................................................................

"When some serious help with the preeminent electrical device of Maxwell’s day—the telegraph—was needed, it was James Clerk Maxwell who was called upon for assistance. For some time, engineers had been attempting to lay a viable telegraph cable underneath the Atlantic Ocean that could effectively carry signals sent from England to North America. Maxwell was well aware of these difficulties as his associate and frequent source of intellectual banter, William Thomson, had worked extensively on the project. The first major effort was made in 1858 but proved to be a complete failure. Most famously, it managed to carry a slow and much-delayed message between Queen Victoria of England and President James Buchanan of the United States before conking out completely.

" ... Maxwell proposed spinning a wire made of copper to generate a magnetic field. He then recommended having a magnetic needle placed in the middle of the coil so that it would settle at the fixed angle of Earth’s magnetic field.

"With the right formulas in place, Maxwell could use this to determine the absolute measure of the coil’s electrical resistance. As a result of his findings, a standard of electrical resistance had been established, and the first transatlantic telegraph cables were laid, thereby putting Maxwell’s theory to practice in a very demonstrative and powerful way."

................................................................................................

"Managing to get away from the house for a while, in 1867, Maxwell and Katherine went on one of their rare vacations and embarked on a tour of Italy. The first leg of the trip proved disastrous, however, when the boat they traveled on was forced to park in Marseilles, France and put under quarantine due to fears of an outbreak of sickness on the ship. Maxwell proved himself to be a man of patience and endurance and volunteered to carry water and do other menial tasks to lessen the hardship of his shipmates. By the time Maxwell and Katherine made it to their destination, they were ready to soak up the sites. Maxwell showed a particular interest in Italian musical arts and architecture. He also took on an active role in learning the language, practicing his Italian on everyone he encountered.

"Upon his return home, Maxwell became involved with the British Association and attended its meetings in various locales around Britain. He also occasionally took on the role of acting president for the Mathematics and Physics section as well. Along with these occasional roles in academia, another main repository of his time was his continued research into various scientific fields. He produced additional papers during this period in addition to a massive volume which would eventually be published in 1871 under the name Theory of Heat. Maxwell was apparently induced to write on the subject by the high interest in the steam engine technology that was so prevalent throughout the nineteenth century, and he had initially intended for this masterwork to be a mere introductory lesson on the concept of heat.

"It all began with Maxwell working on the already established and known principles of heat, but as was usually the case, he rapidly began to build upon these foundations by creating his own views and theories on the subject which served to take understanding of these rudimentary concepts much further. In the end, Maxwell greatly expanded upon heat-related subjects such as temperature, pressure, volume, and entropy."

................................................................................................

"From a mathematical standpoint, Maxwell also produced a beneficial means of exploring how these elements relate to each other through the use of differential equations. This has since become a well-enshrined aspect of the tools used in relation to this field and is referred to as Maxwell relations.

"Interestingly enough, many of Maxwell’s ideas, which were largely ignored during his lifetime, were seized upon with great enthusiasm in the 1940s by World War II-era engineers. His work proved to be of great consequence to the war effort when it was realized that the equations of James Clerk Maxwell worked like clockwork when it came to the complicated control systems needed for many of the technological innovations that were being developed at that time. Maxwell’s famous equations relating to electromagnetism (first presented in Maxwell’s “Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism” in 1873) were especially beneficial in advancing World War II radar technology."

................................................................................................

"But as was quite often the case in the life of James Clerk Maxwell, as soon as one door closed, another one opened. This time it was Cambridge University that came calling, entreating Maxwell to sign on for a professorial role in experimental physics. As appealing as it all sounded, Maxwell was hesitant to leave his comfortable and familiar life at his Glenlair estate. Unsure if he was making the right decision or not, Maxwell ended up getting the university to agree to allow him to amicably part company after his first year if he decided it wasn’t working out.

"Maxwell officially took on his new role in March of 1871, making him the very first professor of experimental physics. As soon as he graced the campus of Cambridge, Maxwell’s first order of the day was to plan the lab that was to be built for the experimental physics department. Among his requests was that the lab should be spacious to allow for bulky apparatus. In the end, the planning seemed to be the easy part, and the actual building of the laboratory was not completed until 1874. Known as the Cavendish Laboratory, this physics lab would serve the interest of students for many years to come.

"It was at the Cavendish Laboratory, in fact, that a future student by the name of J. J. Thomson would discover and verify one of the very elements that Maxwell had long eluded to: the electron. It took some time, but Maxwell’s diagrams and bizarre models would eventually come to life in the work of those who succeeded him. Maxwell would indeed have many accomplishments to show for his labors. In truth, he revolutionized the entire scientific field, and his efforts in academia made sure that the role of being a scientist, which was during his youth often looked at as nothing more than a hobby, had become a highly respected and sought-after vocation.

................................................................................................

"Dr. Paget later described Maxwell’s final days, “His intellect also remained clear and apparently unimpaired to the last. While his bodily strength was ebbing away to death, his mind never wandered or wavered, but remained clear to the very end. No man ever met death more consciously or more calmly.” Much of this was seconded by Maxwell’s local physician at Glenlair, Dr. Lorraine. ... "

"Surrounded by friends and family, Maxwell passed away on November 5, 1879, aged 48. ... "

................................................................................................

" ... legacy of James Clerk Maxwell is inescapable. The electromagnetism he championed is what allows us to watch TV and listen to radio stations. His work also facilitated modern air travel through the use of radar and complex control systems. But even more important than Maxwell’s discoveries is the fact that he laid the groundwork for future scientists to build upon, giving them the opportunity to create a whole new way to look at science. His model representations of phenomenon on the subatomic scale, for example, have now become the baseline upon which subatomic particles are quantified and measured.

"They say that even the best of us stand on the shoulders of giants. This couldn’t have been truer than in the example of James Clerk Maxwell. It was the work of Maxwell in the nineteenth century, after all, that gave us Albert Einstein in the twentieth. It was the mathematical principles first introduced by Maxwell that spawned the wide variety of scientific theorems we see at work today. For a man who never had the chance to have any biological children of his own, James Clerk Maxwell most certainly had plenty of heirs when it came to scientific thought."

................................................................................................

Table of Contents

................................................................................................

Introduction

Early Life and Loss

Maxwell’s First Breakthroughs

A Professor and a Married Man

The World’s First Color Photograph

Putting His Theories to Practice

Return to Scotland

Maxwell’s Equations

The Cavendish Laboratory

Illness and Death

Conclusion

................................................................................................

REVIEW

................................................................................................

Introduction

................................................................................................

"James Clerk Maxwell was born into this world on June 13, 1831 at the cusp of one of the first information ages. The 1830s were filled with scientific speculation of all kinds fueled by the steady stream of newspaper print and telegraph data that was coming in on a regular basis. As Maxwell got older, he became obsessed with producing a perfect theory on electromagnetism. In this effort, he would be the very first to conclude that magnetism and electricity are two interrelated forces. Maxwell would eventually go on to declare that all electric and magnetic components are at their most basic level waves that are racing from one direction to another at the speed of light.

"At his heart, Maxwell was a man of ideas, and his ideas had some pretty impressive consequences. It was due in part to one of his breakthroughs, for example, that scientists would later uncover the significance of radio waves which are a result of electromagnetic activity. This of course then led to the use of radio communication and broadcast. His work also paved the way for the use of radar to track planes high in the sky, as well as cell towers to beam signals to the phones we carry in our pockets. Thanks to his curiosity, a whole new world was discovered."

................................................................................................

................................................

September 21, 2022 - September 21, 2022.

................................................

................................................................................................

Chapter 1. Early Life and Loss

................................................................................................

"—Frances Cay, describing her son James Clerk Maxwell"

................................................................................................

"James Clerk Maxwell was born on June 13, 1831. This is not a day that most of us remember, but it is one of great consequence. Without the mind of Maxwell, the scientific advancement of humanity would have been greatly stunted, if not arrested altogether."

"Shortly after birth, little Maxwell was taken back to the family estate at Glenlair. Here he would develop a lifelong love of the countryside and the majestic bounty of nature. It was Frances who would serve as Maxwell’s sounding board for all of his ideas, and it was also she that would provide him his rudimentary education. It appears that Frances did a remarkable job; Maxwell was soon able to recite long passages from English poets as well as from the Bible. However, as much tender care as Frances had shown Maxwell, sadly enough she abruptly died from abdominal cancer in late 1839, leaving her inquisitive eight-year-old son to his own machinations.

................................................................................................

"When it came to Maxwell’s education, John tried to pick up where his deceased wife had left off, and at one point he even hired a private tutor. The tutor proved to be a strict disciplinarian and came into direct conflict with Maxwell’s more free-spirited ways. To remedy the situation, the instructor—as was not uncommon at the time—began to use methods of corporal punishment to get young Maxwell’s attention. All he managed to do was alienate the youth even further, frightening the child so bad that he didn’t want to attend his lessons. On one occasion, Maxwell even ran outside to a pond and paddled to the middle of it, thinking that the surrounding waters would be sufficient to keep him safe from his instructors blows. Needless to say, as soon as his father figured out what was going on, the heavy-handed tutor was dismissed.

"The most consequential moment of Maxwell’s early education occurred not in a stuffy classroom or at the mercy of a harsh disciplinarian but on a field trip with his father. In this rare outing, John took Maxwell to see a public presentation carried out by a Scottish scientist by the name of Robert Davidson. At this seminal event on February 12, 1842, Maxwell observed Davidson’s display on the subject of magnetic force and electric propulsion. This exhibit would light the spark of Maxwell’s lifelong interest in electromagnetism.

................................................................................................

"At age 10, Maxwell was enrolled at the Edinburgh Academy. He initially had a hard time adjusting to the more refined and sophisticated atmosphere of the academy and was routinely made fun of for his rustic style of clothing and his Galloway accent. As soon as young Maxwell opened his mouth, he was lambasted with ridicule. Disparaging him for both his accent and phraseology, Maxwell’s peers labeled him as stupid. They also came up with a nickname that would serve as a shorthand for all of their abuse, calling him “Dafty” as in him being daft. But as is often the case with schoolyard bullies who leap to snap judgments to torment their victims, the boys would soon learn how wrong they were. Once Maxwell adjusted enough to apply himself in his studies, he showed himself to be an exceedingly bright pupil.

"Maxwell’s peers soon also learned that he was by no means a pushover. As long-suffering as Maxwell was, even he had his limits, which some of his classmates would learn the hard way. One of his classmates later recalled that one day, Maxwell “turned with tremendous vigour, with a kind of demonic force, on his tormentors.” Eventually, Maxwell’s classmates would come to admire both his intellect and his sheer force of will. Even so, as is often the case on the schoolyard, the name of Dafty once conferred upon him seemed to have stuck. But Maxwell decided to embrace it, and what was once meant as a put-down become a term of endearment used by those he knew and loved."

................................................................................................

................................................

September 21, 2022 - September 21, 2022.

................................................

................................................................................................

Chapter 2. Maxwell’s First Breakthroughs

................................................................................................

"The next major milestone in Maxwell’s life was when he enrolled at the prestigious University of Cambridge in the fall of 1850, but it wasn’t long before he transferred to Trinity, which was a constituent college of the university. Maxwell was officially recommended to the school by James Forbes who advised the headmaster that “he [Maxwell] is not a little uncouth in his manners, but withal one of the most original young men I have ever met with.”"

" ... Although Maxwell was grateful for the intellectual stimulus, it didn’t bode well for keeping up with physical fitness—an aspect of his life he valued since his rough-and-tumble days of youth at Glenlair. Maxwell found a way to work some exercise into his schedule, however, when he discovered that by waking up in the wee hours of the morning, he could run down the halls and staircases of his dormitory. This, of course, was not exactly a welcome event for his fellow boarders trying to sleep during those hours. As one of his classmates would later recall, some of the other students would even lay in wait for Maxwell to pass so that they could have shots at him, hurling shoes, brushes, and any other items they could get their hands on at the bounding Maxwell as he ran by.

"Waking up your dormmates at three in the morning certainly doesn’t seem like a good means of endearment, yet despite this seeming eccentricity, Maxwell was widely respected by most who knew him. He did well at Trinity, and before he knew it, it was time for his final round of testing before graduation. It is said that in these efforts, Maxwell was a “Second Wrangler” meaning that he was ranked second out of his whole class.

................................................................................................

................................................

September 21, 2022 - September 21, 2022.

................................................

................................................................................................

Chapter 3. A Professor and a Married Man

................................................................................................

................................................

September 21, 2022 - September 21, 2022.

................................................

................................................................................................

Chapter 4. The World’s First Color Photograph

................................................................................................

"—James Clerk Maxwell"

................................................................................................

" ... Maxwell was urging his students to think outside the box and to not just accept what has already been learned and taught but to push the envelope further and make discoveries of their own.

................................................................................................

"Black and white photography had already been around for a couple of decades, but no one had yet learned how to add color to those grainy images. The genius of James Clerk Maxwell found a way by taking three successive photos of a prop—a colored ribbon in this case—with each photo shot through a different colored filter. The item was photographed through a red filter, a green filter, and then finally a blue filter. After capturing multiple images of the object through these primary colors, Maxwell projected the multicolor-imbued image onto a view screen. Incredibly enough, after Maxwell made this optical breakthrough, for many years no one else was able to duplicate it.

"At any rate, the demonstration was a success, and a few weeks later, when James Clerk Maxwell was just shy of being 30 years old, he received his official election as a member of the Royal Society. He seemed to be on top of the world and in the prime of his life, but sadly he would only have roughly two more decades to live it."

................................................................................................

................................................

September 21, 2022 - September 21, 2022.

................................................

................................................................................................

Chapter 5. Putting His Theories to Practice

................................................................................................

"1. Opposite electrical charges attract and like charges repel with a force inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the two.

"2. Opposite magnetic poles attract; like poles repel with a force inversely proportional to the distance between them, and poles always occur in north/south pairs.

"3. The electrical current of a wire creates a circular magnetic field, with its orientation dependent upon that of the current.

"4. Fluctuating magnetic fields through a loop of wire induces an electrical current in the wire, with its orientation dependent upon whether the fluctuation increases or decreases."

................................................................................................

................................................

September 21, 2022 - September 21, 2022.

................................................

................................................................................................

Chapter 6. Return to Scotland

................................................................................................

"As the world reached the mid-1860s, Maxwell had made some tremendous strides in science. Some of these strides were so incredible that it would take decades for the rest of the scientific community to recognize them. A case in point would be Maxwell’s presentation to the Royal Society in 1864 in which he tried to elaborate on his previous findings. Here he went beyond the familiar teaching that spoke of an unperceivable “aether,” in which forces such as gravity, electricity, and magnetism originated, and instead proposed that there were workings at the molecular level that were yet to be discovered. His theory pinpointed what was at that time unknown electromagnetic phenomena, as well as aspects of light and even radiation that most couldn’t even imagine.

"There was as of yet no understanding of subatomic particles, and without it, much of what Maxwell spoke of seemed to smack more of superstition than science. How could they, after all, believe in something they could not hear, touch, or see? Even Maxwell’s friend, the great mathematician William Thomson, who was quite familiar with the mathematics behind Maxwell’s work, denounced him as having “lapsed into mysticism.” These were pretty strong words coming from his peers and even those he counted as friends. Growing weary of the brick wall the Royal Society had erected in front of him and longing for the simplicity of the country, Maxwell decided to resign from his post at the university and head back to his estate at Glenlair in Scotland."

"Maxwell’s inability to have children was not only a source of emotional sadness for him, but it also created some practical problems for the future of his estate. Being childless meant that there was no clear heir to receive everything he had built up at Glenlair. Maxwell tried not to let this uncertainty bother him too much, however, and, dismissing what may lay ahead in the future, he tried his best to live the life that he had."

................................................................................................

................................................

September 21, 2022 - September 21, 2022.

................................................

................................................................................................

Chapter 7. Maxwell’s Equations

................................................................................................

................................................

September 21, 2022 - September 21, 2022.

................................................

................................................................................................

Chapter 8. The Cavendish Laboratory

................................................................................................

................................................

September 21, 2022 - September 21, 2022.

................................................

................................................................................................

Chapter 9. Illness and Death

................................................................................................

"It was in the first few months of 1877 that Maxwell first exhibited the symptoms of the disease that would ultimately end his life. He found that he was having terrible heartburn and discomfort. As a homemade remedy, he began to give himself liberal doses of sodium bicarbonate. Initially, this did seem to alleviate much of his difficulties, allowing him to continue work without interruption. Yet it wasn’t long before this band-aid ceased to mask the symptoms of Maxwell’s illness; soon even his colleagues began to notice that he had lost some of the spring in his step. Feeling exhausted much of the time, Maxwell started to turn down work and contributions that he normally would have been eager to take on.

"In search of a remedy, Maxwell finally made an inquiry with a physician as to what might help his condition. The only advice he was given was to stay away from meat and drink a lot of milk. This almost certainly was not of much benefit. Despite his extra milk consumption, the painful attacks Maxwell felt were increasing in both frequency and severity."

"The definitive prognosis would not come until a certain Professor Sanders paid Maxwell a visit on October 2, 1879.

"Upon his examination, Sanders quickly determined that Maxwell was indeed suffering from abdominal cancer and, not attempting to sugarcoat the facts, bluntly informed him that he most likely only had a few weeks left of life. As is often the case with terminal patients, Maxwell’s care at this point turned from seeking a remedy to seeking mere mitigation of discomfort. Maxwell and his wife were instructed to go back to Cambridge so that an expert in palliative care, Dr. Paget, could make sure that Maxwell suffered as little as possible before he passed away. They accepted this fate and arrived by train on October 8."

................................................................................................

"Surrounded by friends and family, Maxwell passed away on November 5, 1879, aged 48. ... "

................................................................................................

................................................

September 21, 2022 - September 21, 2022.

................................................

................................................................................................

Conclusion

................................................................................................

................................................

September 21, 2022 - September 21, 2022.

................................................

................................................................................................

James Clerk Maxwell: A LIFE

FROM BEGINNING TO END

(Biographies of Physicists Book 5)

Hourly History

................................................

September 21, 2022 - September 21, 2022.

Purchased September 21, 2022.

ASIN:- B07YKTRRMP

................................................

................................................................................................

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5000339243

................................................................................................

Reviews - Books I Read - DRJG

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

James Clerk Maxwell: A LIFE FROM BEGINNING TO END (Biographies of Physicists Book 5), by Hourly History.

Light Explodes Across Heavens

Blog Archive

Serene, Reflecting

Contributors

Followers

My Shelfari Bookshelf