James Clerk Maxwell (Thirty-something) Maxwell and Faraday gave us our modern world of motors, radio, and telecommunications; they complemented each other perfectly. Where Faraday was weak in mathematics and theory, Maxwell excelled. Maxwell took the results of Faraday’s years of experimentation with magnets and wires and organized them into his famous four equations. This was a monumental step, requiring years of analysis, thought, experimentation, insight, and genius, culminating in the publication of his 1873 Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism. Here is a case of one little item starting a revolution: in the fourth equation, Maxwell (through theory and experiment) added a term to Ampere’s Law (a law which relates the magnetic effect of a changing electric field or of a current) he called the “displacement current” i. Such a little thing, the letter i; what does it mean? It means, as he wrote, “light consists in the transverse undulations of the same medium which is the cause of electric and magnetic phenomena.” Thus, he unified light with electricity and magnetism, and formed the theoretical basis for radio, TV, radar, and all the spinoffs of these technologies such as remote controls, spacecraft telemetry and cell phones which poured like gold from Maxwell’s Equations in the years after his death. Concerning these equations, Ludwig Boltzmann (quoting from Goethe) remarked, “Was it a god who wrote these lines . . . ” J. R. Pierce, in a chapter titled “Maxwell’s Wonderful Equations,” wrote, “To anyone who is motivated by anything beyond the most narrowly practical, it is worth while to understand Maxwell’s Equations simply for the good of his soul.” A college physics textbook states, “The scope of these equations is remarkable, including as it does the fundamental operating principles of all large-scale electromagnetic devices such as motors, synchrotrons, television, and microwave radar.” Interestingly, Maxwell’s Equations needed no revision when Einstein published his theories of relativity 40 years later, but Newton’s laws did. Maxwell’s Equations already had relativity “built in” – they are invariant in all frames of reference. Truly remarkable. Engineers frequently use these wonderful equations in the most advanced work today. Another phenomenal result of these equations is that it became possible to derive the speed of light from theoretical considerations alone.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 22:04:33 +0000
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