James Clerk Maxwell Biography: History of Maxwell's Equations
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Date: 2022-12-27
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Comments and reviews: 20
Sonya
Maxwell Poetry: Molecular Evolution
At quite uncertain times and places,
The atoms left their heavenly path,
And by fortuitous embraces,
Engendered all that being hath.
And though they seem to cling together,
And form associations here,
Yet, soon or late, they burst their tether,
And through the depths of space career.
So we who sat, oppressed with science,
As British asses, wise and grave,
Are now transformed to wild Red Lions,
As round our prey we ramp and rave.
Thus, by a swift metamorphosis,
Wisdom turns wit, and science joke,
Nonsense is incense to our noses,
For when Red Lions speak, they smoke.
Hail, Nonsense! dry nurse of Red Lions,
From thee the wise their wisdom learn,
From thee they cull those truths of science,
Which into thee again they turn.
What combinations of ideas,
Nonsense alone can wisely form!
What sage has half the power that she has,
To take the towers of Truth by storm?
Yield, then, ye rules of rigid reason!
Dissolve, thou too, too solid sense!
Melt into nonsense for a season,
Then in some nobler form condense.
Soon, all too soon, the chilly morning,
This flow of soul will crystallize,
Then those who Nonsense now are scorning,
May learn, too late, where wisdom lies.
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Maxwell Poetry: Molecular Evolution
At quite uncertain times and places,
The atoms left their heavenly path,
And by fortuitous embraces,
Engendered all that being hath.
And though they seem to cling together,
And form associations here,
Yet, soon or late, they burst their tether,
And through the depths of space career.
So we who sat, oppressed with science,
As British asses, wise and grave,
Are now transformed to wild Red Lions,
As round our prey we ramp and rave.
Thus, by a swift metamorphosis,
Wisdom turns wit, and science joke,
Nonsense is incense to our noses,
For when Red Lions speak, they smoke.
Hail, Nonsense! dry nurse of Red Lions,
From thee the wise their wisdom learn,
From thee they cull those truths of science,
Which into thee again they turn.
What combinations of ideas,
Nonsense alone can wisely form!
What sage has half the power that she has,
To take the towers of Truth by storm?
Yield, then, ye rules of rigid reason!
Dissolve, thou too, too solid sense!
Melt into nonsense for a season,
Then in some nobler form condense.
Soon, all too soon, the chilly morning,
This flow of soul will crystallize,
Then those who Nonsense now are scorning,
May learn, too late, where wisdom lies.
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Ole
Dear Kathy, may I suggest to follow Maxwell all the way to Albert's special relativity theory. All the explanations to Albert's theory are terrible. So try this: take an hollow spheres and place a charge on it. You can calculate the field and its energy ( call it E, now move it at a non relativistic speed. That will generate a magnetic field around the sphere. One can calculate the magnetic field and its energy, let's call it B. So B = 1/2 E/C2 v2 but hey that looks like the formula for kinetic energy 1/2 m v2 where m is the mass of the particles, so by analogy E/C2 =m or ( E = m C2 ) and it seems that the energy in the magnetic field is the electric spheres kinetic energy. Now hop up in a rocket and follow the sphere at its speed. It now has no kinetic energy relative to you and if you try to measure the magnetic field you find it is zero. So the magnetic field you measured with the speed v of the sphere relative to you has disappeared. Indeed it is the kinetic energy. At relativistic speed the mag field also produce a significant electrical field and this flatten out the original electrical field. . well in short Albert effort was to accept Maxwells equations despite the critics, but he changed nothing.
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Dear Kathy, may I suggest to follow Maxwell all the way to Albert's special relativity theory. All the explanations to Albert's theory are terrible. So try this: take an hollow spheres and place a charge on it. You can calculate the field and its energy ( call it E, now move it at a non relativistic speed. That will generate a magnetic field around the sphere. One can calculate the magnetic field and its energy, let's call it B. So B = 1/2 E/C2 v2 but hey that looks like the formula for kinetic energy 1/2 m v2 where m is the mass of the particles, so by analogy E/C2 =m or ( E = m C2 ) and it seems that the energy in the magnetic field is the electric spheres kinetic energy. Now hop up in a rocket and follow the sphere at its speed. It now has no kinetic energy relative to you and if you try to measure the magnetic field you find it is zero. So the magnetic field you measured with the speed v of the sphere relative to you has disappeared. Indeed it is the kinetic energy. At relativistic speed the mag field also produce a significant electrical field and this flatten out the original electrical field. . well in short Albert effort was to accept Maxwells equations despite the critics, but he changed nothing.
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BlueGiant69202
A good effort. I was surprised not to hear the word 'quaternions' or J. W. Gibbs mentioned. Maxwell corresponded with Gibbs mainly regarding thermodynamics but in the Vector Algebra War, it was Gibbs that influenced Heaviside and whose reformulation of quaternion math became the vector algebra taught at Universities. I would be interested in seeing a video on the history of the Maxwell Equation from its inception to 2022; from those first 20 equations, use of quaternions by Maxwell and then scalar equations, Lorentz microscopic statistical formulation, 4 vector equations and after the life of Maxwell to differential and integral versions, tensor version, differential forms version and single equation of the Geometric Algebra formalism of David Hestenes.
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A good effort. I was surprised not to hear the word 'quaternions' or J. W. Gibbs mentioned. Maxwell corresponded with Gibbs mainly regarding thermodynamics but in the Vector Algebra War, it was Gibbs that influenced Heaviside and whose reformulation of quaternion math became the vector algebra taught at Universities. I would be interested in seeing a video on the history of the Maxwell Equation from its inception to 2022; from those first 20 equations, use of quaternions by Maxwell and then scalar equations, Lorentz microscopic statistical formulation, 4 vector equations and after the life of Maxwell to differential and integral versions, tensor version, differential forms version and single equation of the Geometric Algebra formalism of David Hestenes.
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Bill
It all worked out for Faraday. Here is a small list of the honors he received both in life and posthumously: Fullerian Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution (a lifetime appointment, an SI unit in his honor called the farad (that is a particularly high honor, Faraday's Law (which is one of the Maxwell Equations, the Faraday Prize, the Faraday Medal, a prominent statue, blue plaque, and glowing admiration from some of the 20th century's greatest physicists like Feynman and Einstein. Faraday's experiments that proved the unification of electricity and magnetism inspires physicists even today. Like I said, this is only a partial list, and an entire video could be made of just the phenomena that bear his name.
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It all worked out for Faraday. Here is a small list of the honors he received both in life and posthumously: Fullerian Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution (a lifetime appointment, an SI unit in his honor called the farad (that is a particularly high honor, Faraday's Law (which is one of the Maxwell Equations, the Faraday Prize, the Faraday Medal, a prominent statue, blue plaque, and glowing admiration from some of the 20th century's greatest physicists like Feynman and Einstein. Faraday's experiments that proved the unification of electricity and magnetism inspires physicists even today. Like I said, this is only a partial list, and an entire video could be made of just the phenomena that bear his name.
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Robert
I hope this isn't too much of a digression, but I just want to say I understand the pull of the hypothesized luminiferous ether from Maxwell's equations. If fields be considered primary -- the non-stuff that electromagnetism is based on -- then there's no need to postulate an ether. But if electric charge is primary, and a property of matter, and the cause of all electric fields, then how can one escape there existing some carrier of the charges to produce the fields in EM waves? If charge is not primary in stuff, then one could say that a point charge is just a place of divergence of E field; but if charge is primary, then what's holding the charges that produce the E fields along those waves?
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I hope this isn't too much of a digression, but I just want to say I understand the pull of the hypothesized luminiferous ether from Maxwell's equations. If fields be considered primary -- the non-stuff that electromagnetism is based on -- then there's no need to postulate an ether. But if electric charge is primary, and a property of matter, and the cause of all electric fields, then how can one escape there existing some carrier of the charges to produce the fields in EM waves? If charge is not primary in stuff, then one could say that a point charge is just a place of divergence of E field; but if charge is primary, then what's holding the charges that produce the E fields along those waves?
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Doug
Great History, Kathy, thank you! Id like to see how Maxwells component equations fold into Heavisides compact and elegant notation. Perhaps I should do this myself. I remember feeling daunted or disinterested by the Dover editions (2 volumes) of Maxwells works. perhaps now I am mature enough to digest them? (Oh, and Weber I have never heard pronounced the way you do. As far as I know the German pronunciation is more like Vay-Ber almost like vapor! And the American is more like Webber like a spider building a web)
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Great History, Kathy, thank you! Id like to see how Maxwells component equations fold into Heavisides compact and elegant notation. Perhaps I should do this myself. I remember feeling daunted or disinterested by the Dover editions (2 volumes) of Maxwells works. perhaps now I am mature enough to digest them? (Oh, and Weber I have never heard pronounced the way you do. As far as I know the German pronunciation is more like Vay-Ber almost like vapor! And the American is more like Webber like a spider building a web)
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DrPowerElectronics
Ok, but criticising Faradays maths should have been aligned with the page of hieroglyphics that you later showed. Maths is more than turning the handle. Faraday understood equations and got a constant for one named after him. Heaviside made the maths lovely but that in itself took time to be accepted as it used new maths. I understand click bate, and quoting nasty comments is fun, but Im sure those people regretted their comments later, if they had time. Maxwell could recite Psalm 119 by the way.
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Ok, but criticising Faradays maths should have been aligned with the page of hieroglyphics that you later showed. Maths is more than turning the handle. Faraday understood equations and got a constant for one named after him. Heaviside made the maths lovely but that in itself took time to be accepted as it used new maths. I understand click bate, and quoting nasty comments is fun, but Im sure those people regretted their comments later, if they had time. Maxwell could recite Psalm 119 by the way.
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Nishanth
This series is so amazing, I have no words for it! I cant imagine how tough it is to really understand the history of so many decades and so many people, across so many conceptual topics. and summarize into concise bite sized content which still retains the crux of the matter and the essential links across people and events. Amazed! I wish PBS or someone made a video documentary (they made many) with this content specifically.
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This series is so amazing, I have no words for it! I cant imagine how tough it is to really understand the history of so many decades and so many people, across so many conceptual topics. and summarize into concise bite sized content which still retains the crux of the matter and the essential links across people and events. Amazed! I wish PBS or someone made a video documentary (they made many) with this content specifically.
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Kannadassan
I read and heard Maxwell's stories, they never bored to me, like Einstein's stories. The genius of Maxwell is one generalization of the laws and made theory. In fact, in his book, he wrote The theory I propose may, therefore, be called a theory of the Electromagnetic Field. Amongst these Maxwell's equation, my favorite part is Displacement current. I hope, Kathy can explain it with her enthusiastic voice.
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I read and heard Maxwell's stories, they never bored to me, like Einstein's stories. The genius of Maxwell is one generalization of the laws and made theory. In fact, in his book, he wrote The theory I propose may, therefore, be called a theory of the Electromagnetic Field. Amongst these Maxwell's equation, my favorite part is Displacement current. I hope, Kathy can explain it with her enthusiastic voice.
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Lawrence
6: 04 You can describe Maxwells equations as a unified field theory, bringing together what were thought to be separate forces into one theory -- only the second such one in physics.
The first one being, of course Newtonian gravity, which showed that the force that made things fall down on Earth was the same one that kept the planets and stars in their orbits.
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6: 04 You can describe Maxwells equations as a unified field theory, bringing together what were thought to be separate forces into one theory -- only the second such one in physics.
The first one being, of course Newtonian gravity, which showed that the force that made things fall down on Earth was the same one that kept the planets and stars in their orbits.
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PowerJets
Maxwell, Clerk-Maxwell, was a very talented mathematician from an early age. I doubt he needed much help with that. What is apparent is that he was very appreciative of the experimental processes and insights, whether from his wife or from Faraday.
P. s.
You can visit his home in Edinburgh with an appointment. There is more to see than the castle.
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Maxwell, Clerk-Maxwell, was a very talented mathematician from an early age. I doubt he needed much help with that. What is apparent is that he was very appreciative of the experimental processes and insights, whether from his wife or from Faraday.
P. s.
You can visit his home in Edinburgh with an appointment. There is more to see than the castle.
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Goedelite
Dear Kathy: Do you know if Maxwell noticed that his equations did not transform properly under a Galilean transformation of coordinates (and the trivial one in time? Did any physicist notice this before Einstein offered his Special Theory (under which they do transform properly? Was this a subject of discussion before 1905?
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Dear Kathy: Do you know if Maxwell noticed that his equations did not transform properly under a Galilean transformation of coordinates (and the trivial one in time? Did any physicist notice this before Einstein offered his Special Theory (under which they do transform properly? Was this a subject of discussion before 1905?
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Simon
Thanks for your lucid explanations, Kathy. I was thinking that another angle to look at could be 'The History of C', i. e, how various scientists through the years have measured the speed of light - and how mathematicians have proved them right. This would bring a panoply of great names from Brahe onwards into the story.
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Thanks for your lucid explanations, Kathy. I was thinking that another angle to look at could be 'The History of C', i. e, how various scientists through the years have measured the speed of light - and how mathematicians have proved them right. This would bring a panoply of great names from Brahe onwards into the story.
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education
Are the equations really definitive and leave no stone unturned? No fifth equation to account for dark matter and dark energy and the expansion of space and space-time warp? Banach-Tarsky is the Achilles heel of modern mathematics wrapped around set theory. Does Maxwell's equations have an undiscovered flaw?
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Are the equations really definitive and leave no stone unturned? No fifth equation to account for dark matter and dark energy and the expansion of space and space-time warp? Banach-Tarsky is the Achilles heel of modern mathematics wrapped around set theory. Does Maxwell's equations have an undiscovered flaw?
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James
Ahhhh, James Clerk Maxwell, my all time favorite physicist.
The beauty of Maxwell's equations, (first equations to survive special relativity, must have made many, many students fall in love with physics.
And Faraday, what a great experimentalist!
Thanks for doing a piece on both.
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Ahhhh, James Clerk Maxwell, my all time favorite physicist.
The beauty of Maxwell's equations, (first equations to survive special relativity, must have made many, many students fall in love with physics.
And Faraday, what a great experimentalist!
Thanks for doing a piece on both.
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Danny
Maxwell's work in Statistical Thermodynamics alone (A subject he developed & pioneered, would've been enough to put him down as one of the greats of mathematics/physics. Just to confuse things, Maxwell also has another set of relations in thermodynamics known as Maxwell's Relations.
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Maxwell's work in Statistical Thermodynamics alone (A subject he developed & pioneered, would've been enough to put him down as one of the greats of mathematics/physics. Just to confuse things, Maxwell also has another set of relations in thermodynamics known as Maxwell's Relations.
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Stephen
A great series I must say. I'm a real fan. I have to say when viewed through the prism of Modern History I'm searching in vain for a Gwatcha Ombote or say a Winston Oktatwango that has contributed in any way to the furtherance of our knowledge. In vain I'm afraid.
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A great series I must say. I'm a real fan. I have to say when viewed through the prism of Modern History I'm searching in vain for a Gwatcha Ombote or say a Winston Oktatwango that has contributed in any way to the furtherance of our knowledge. In vain I'm afraid.
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Sonar
Maxwell's fields stretch to infinity, called quantum fields. How quantum states create classical objects will require knowledge of how Schrodinger's wave equation incorporate heat, gravity and perhaps many other properties that seem to emerge out of singularities.
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Maxwell's fields stretch to infinity, called quantum fields. How quantum states create classical objects will require knowledge of how Schrodinger's wave equation incorporate heat, gravity and perhaps many other properties that seem to emerge out of singularities.
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Daniel
Hi Cathy! I would lie to congratulate you for mentioning Oliver Heaviside and the real story behind Maxwell's equations. Few people seem to know this and the British still hate Heaviside and avoid his name at all costs. Even after more than hundred years.
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Hi Cathy! I would lie to congratulate you for mentioning Oliver Heaviside and the real story behind Maxwell's equations. Few people seem to know this and the British still hate Heaviside and avoid his name at all costs. Even after more than hundred years.
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peter
Kathy, besides Weber and Kolraush equations already using a and b, do you not think that celeritas being Latin for swift, quick, speed had anything to do with c being adopted as the symbol for the speed of light?
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Kathy, besides Weber and Kolraush equations already using a and b, do you not think that celeritas being Latin for swift, quick, speed had anything to do with c being adopted as the symbol for the speed of light?
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