The Man Who Changed Everything The Life of James Clerk Maxwell

by Mahon, Basil

• ISBN13: 9780470861714
• ISBN10: 0470861711
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-10-15
• Publisher: WILEY

Summary

This is the first biography in twenty years of James Clerk Maxwell, one of the greatest scientists of our time and yet a man relatively unknown to the wider public. Approaching science with a freshness unbound by convention or previous expectations, he produced some of the most original scientific thinking of the nineteenth century and his discoveries went on to shape the twentieth century.

Author Biography

<b>Basil Mahon</b> is a former officer in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and a graduate in Engineering. He is a retired Government Civil Servant and ran the 1991 census in England and Wales. <p> He has a long-time passion for the physical sciences and has for many years been fascinated by the impact that Maxwell has had on all our lives.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	ix
Preface	xi
Acknowledgements	xiii
Chronology: principal events in Maxwell's life	xv
Cast of characters: Maxwell's relations and close friends	xix
Introduction	1	(146)
1 A country boy: Glenlair 1831-1841	4	(7)
2 Pins and string: Edinburgh Academy 1841-184 7	11	(12)
3 Philosophy: Edinburgh University 1847-1850	23	(12)
4 Learning to juggle: Cambridge 1850-1854	35	(13)
5 Blue and yellow make pink: Cambridge 1854-1856	48	(21)
6 Saturn and statistics: Aberdeen 1856-1860	69	(21)
7 Spinning cells: London 1860-1862	90	(21)
8 The beautiful equations: London 1862-1865	111	(17)
9 The Laird at home: Glenlair 1865-1871	128	(19)
10 The Cavendish: Cambridge 1871-1879	147	(24)
11 Last days	171	(5)
12 Maxwell's legacy	176	(10)
Notes	186	(26)
Bibliography	212	(3)
Index	215