James Clerk Maxwell (1831 - 1879)

Born 13 Jun 1831 in Edinburghshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Katherine Mary (Dewar) Maxwell — married 2 Jun 1858 in Old Machar, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

Died 5 Nov 1879 at age 48 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

James Maxwell is Notable.

James Clerk Maxwell was born in Edinburgh City on 13 June 1831 and baptised on 29 July 1831 at St. Stephens parish, son to John Clerk Maxwell of Middlebie and Francis Cay. ^[1]

James was educated first at the Edinburgh Academy (1841-47), where he excelled at mathematics. In 1846, at age 14, he wrote a paper entitled "On the description of oval curves and those having a plurality of foci" which was presented at the Edinburgh Royal Society by Professor James Forbes from the University of Edinburgh (Maxwell was thought too young to present it himself), and subsequently published in the Proceedings of The Edinburgh Royal Society , vol ii, pp 89 -92.^[2]

In his last year at the Academy, 1847, he was first in his class in both Mathematics and English^[2], winning the Mathematical Medal and the 2nd Academical Club Prize.^[3]

For the next three years, he studied at the University of Edinburgh, spending equal time at his home, Glenlair, in Kirkcudbrightshire, and the University at Edinburgh. He studied under James Forbes (who had presented his paper on ovals to the Edinburgh Royal Society), Phillip Kellum, and William Hamilton^[2]. During this time, two more of his papers were presented for him at the Edinburgh Royal Society and publised in the Proceedings^[2]

• "On the theory of rolling curves" , read before the Edinburgh Royal Society on 19 February 1849^[2] and published in Edinburgh Royal Society Transactions, XVI, 1849 pp 519-540.^[4]
• "On the Equilibrium of Elastic solids", read oin the spring of 1850^[2] and published in Edinburgh Royal Society Transactions, XX, 1853 pp 87-120^[4].

In 1850 he entered the University of Cambridge, Peterhouse to study Mathematics, but transferred to Trinity before the end of his first term. He graduated from Trinity with a degree in mathamatics in January of 1854, finishing second in his class^[2].

James decided to remain at Trinity after graduation and apply for a fellowship, which he gained in October of 1855. He lectured the Upper Division of the third year in Hydrostatics and Optics, and was asked to write a textbook on optics^[2].

In 1856, he learned that there was an opening for the Chair of the Department of Natural Philosopy [Physics] at Marischal College, Aberdeen and he became a candidate for the appointment^[2].

James' father John died on the 2nd of April, 1856. Later that month, James was appointed to the Chair at Marischal, at the young age of 25. There he became close friends with the Principal of the College, the Reverend Daniel Dewar. Through his friendship with the Reverend Dewar, he met Katherine Mary Dewar, Reverend Dewar's daughter. The were engaged in February of 1858.^[2] James married Katherine Mary Dewar at Old Marchar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland on 2 June 1858^[2][5]. James inherited the family estate at Glenlair, Kirkudbrightshire, Scotland

Glenlair House

In April of 1859, Maxwell was awarded the prestigeous Adams Prize for his paper "On the stability of the motion of Saturn's rings" wherein he provided mathematical proof that the rings could not be solid or liquid, but must be composed of many independant particles in orbit about the planet^[2].

In early 1860, Marischal College was merged with the neigboring University and King's College of Aberdeen, and Maxwell lost his position during the consolidation of the two colleges. He was subsequently given the Chair of the Department of Natural Philosophy at King's College in London, England^[2].

James remained at King's College for the next 5 years, a period which was probably the most productive of his career.

James presented to the British Association for the Advancement of Science's meeting at Aberdeen in September 1859, the paper "On the dynamical theory of gasses" , in which he discussed the motions of the molecules of a gas, and described the diffusion of one gas into another. The paper was published in two parts in June the following year. The diffusion problem had eluded all previous attemps to describe the mechanics. James introduced a statistical model as a solution. This was the first-ever statistical law in physics: The Maxwell Distribution of Molecular Velocities. It laid the foundations for statistical mechanics, a proper description of the laws of Thermodynamics, and the use of probability distributions in quantum mechanics. This discovery alone makes him one of the most important scientists in history^[6] .

On the 17th of May, 1861 he gave a presentation to the Royal Institute on his Theory of Colour. With the assistance of his colleague, Thomas Sutton, a noted phtographer. Sutton took three black and white photographs of a tartan ribbon, each through a different filter (red, green and blue), then projected them on a screen simultaneously through the same filter used to capture the respective image. The result was the first color photograph. The color rendition was not particualry good since the photographic plates used by sutton were insensitive to red light, and barely responded to green light. Due to the complete insensitivity to red light, the experiment should have failed completely. Researchers at Kodak 100 years later discovered that it only worked because the red dye in the tartan ribbon reflected some Ultraviolet light, which the red filter happened to pass (unbeknownst to Sutton or Maxwell).^[6]

First colour photograph - May,1861

In 1862, The British Association for the Advancement of Science aked james to lead a small team to begin developing a coherent set of units of measurement for electricity and magnetism. J ames wrote a paper proposing that all units should be in terms of standars units of Mass, Length and Time, which was accepted by the Association. He and his team, Fleeming Jenkin and Balfour Stewart proceeded to define the standard for the unit of Electrical resistance (the OHM). after many experiments they succeeded in creating the standard, and aranging for its distribution. Fleeming Jenkin published the work in 1873^[7]. More important than the develpment of the standard, Maxwells work on measurement units, first published in November, 1869, then revised and published in the proceedings of the London Mathematical Society in 1873^[8] was the begining of the science of Dimensional Analysis^[6].

James also continued his research on color, electricity and magnetism, and thermodynamics and published a number of papers, but in 1865, tired of lecturing and other duties which kept him from research, James resigned his position at King's College. He and Katherine returned to his estate, Glenlair. He spent the next 6 years improving his estate, and contiuing his research, contiued work on his treatise on electomagnetism. He published a number of important papers during this time, inluding a seminal paper on contol theory, on the theory of color, on topology, and completed most of his work on electromagnetism (which wold be published in 1873).He completed his book "The Theory of Heat" a foudational text on thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, which was published in 1871.^[6][2].

In eary 1871 he was asked to accept the newly created Chair of Expeimental Physics at Cambridge University and with some reluctance, accepted. His primary duty was to oversee th construction of the laboratory, funded largely by William Cavendish , 7th Duke of Devonshire, who was then Chancellor of the University. Maxwells work resulted in the construction of a world class laboratory for Cambridge, which was opened for use in the spring of 1874, and formally presented to the University on the 16th of June, 1874. At Maxwell's suggestion, the laboratory was named the Cavendish, commemorating both the Duke of Devonshire and his great uncle, Henry Cavendish.^[6][2]

In 1873 Maxwell's greatest work, "Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism", was published (although it was mainly written durng his time at Glenlair that preceded Cambridge). Theis seminal work was regarded as perhaps the most important book since Newton's "Principia".^[6]. Albert Einstein said of the work: "One scientific epoch ended and another began with James Clerk Maxwell". Richard Feynmann was even less restrained in his praise, saying: "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 nineteenth century will be judged as Maxwell’s discovery of the laws of electrodynamics."^[6]

James Clerk Maxwell died of stomach cancer on 5 Nov 1879 at the age of 48 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England and, after a funeral at Cambridge, was buried in the chruchyard of Parton Kirk, Village of Parton, Kirkudbrightshire ^[2][6][9]. He was survived by his wife Kathering who lived until 12 December 1886, and was buried alongside James at Parton Kirk. They had no children^[6].

One would be remiss to write even a short biographical sketch of James Clerk Maxwell such as this, and fail to mention that in addition to being, perhaps, the 19th Century's greatest scientist, he was a devout Christian, an Elder of his church in his later years. His faith sustaineded him throughout his life, and in his death. In the words of his physician at the time of his death, Dr, Paget: "His intellect also remained clear and apparently unimpaired to the last. While his bodily strength was ebbing away to death, his mind never once wandered or wavered, but remained clear to the very end. No man ever met death more consciously or more calmly" Dr. Paget also wrote:: "“There is a deep interest in the fact of how such a man as Maxwell met the trials of sickness, and the approach of death. They are severe tests of amiability and unselfishness, and of the genuineness of religious convictions. It is something to say of a man that his unselfishness and composure remained undisturbed, and it is interesting physiologically and psychologically, that in the very extremity of bodily weakness, when the nourishment of the brain must have become reduced the mind remained perfectly clear.”^[2].

James Clerk Maxwell Memorial Stone at Parton Kirk

Research Notes

• A major source for the information in the Biography above is the book "The Life of James Clerk Maxwell" by Lewis Campbell. Lewis was a classmate of James during his time at Edinburgh Academy, and became a lifelong friend. The book is available on line at Google Books.com . The second edition, digitised and converted to text using OCR software By James C. Rautio, is avalable as a PDF at https://www.sonnetsoftware.com/bio/maxbio.pdf, and is much easier to read and search.

Sources

1. ↑ "Church of Scotland: Old Parish Registers - Births and Baptisms," database, National Records of Scotland, (ScotlandsPeople : accessed 16 May 2023), James Maxwell born or baptised on 29 Jul 1831, son of John Clerk Maxwell & Francis Cay, Parish Name: Edinburgh; citing Parish Number 685/1, Ref 560/296.
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16} Campbell, Lewis and Garnet, William. The Life of James Clerk Maxwell. Google Books, Macmillan, 1882, pp 76, 81, [Accessed 24 Aug. 2021].
3. ↑ The Edinburgh Academical Club. The Edinburgh Academy Register 1824-1914, Edinburgh: T & A Constable, 1914. Page 110.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} " List of Books and Scientific Papers written by JCM, including those not in Collected Works by Niven", Sir W D (editor) (1890) The scientific papers of James Clerk Maxwell, Cambridge University Press. URL: https://www.clerkmaxwellfoundation.org/html/media_library.html
5. ↑ "Scotland Marriages, 1561-1910", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTJ7-ZMV : 11 February 2020), James Clerk Maxwell, 1858. Record details: Name: James Clerk Maxwell; Sex: Male; Spouse's Name: Katherine Mary Dewar; Spouse's Sex: Female; Marriage Date: 2 Jun 1858; Marriage Place: Old Machar, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, United Kingdom; Digital Folder Number: 008073264; Microfilm Number: 280176; Originating System: ODM; Indexing Batch: M11906-1 [Accessed 24 Aug 2021]
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8} Mahon, Basil. The Man Who Changed Everything: The Life of James Clerk Maxwell.. Amazon, Kindle ed., John Wiley & Sons, 8 Apr. 2015 (Kindle Edition), pp.82, 93. Accessed 25 Aug. 2021. Hardcover edition originally published 17 Oct 2003, John Wiley & Sons
7. ↑ H. C. Fleeming Jenkin, et al, Reports of the Committee on Electrical Standards Appointed by the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Internet Archive, London, New York, E. & F.N. Spon, 1873,, Accessed 26 Aug. 2021.
8. ↑ Clerk Maxwell, James, Remarks on the Mathematical Classification of Physical Quantities', Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society, Volume s1-3, Issue 1,Pages: 1-326, November, 1869,London Mathematical Society Online Library [Accessed 26 Aug 2021]
9. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 21 October 2019), memorial page for James Clerk Maxwell (13 Jun 1831–5 Nov 1879), Find A Grave: Memorial #16871396, citing Parton Churchyard, Parton, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland ; Maintained by Find A Grave .

• The Britannica Guide to The 100 Most Influential Scientists (2007), pp. 164, 206-208, 251, 252, 303.
• Wikidata: Item Q9095
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clerk_Maxwell
• P. M. Harman, ‘Maxwell, James Clerk (1831–1879)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2009 accessed 29 Aug 2016

See also:

• The Maxwell at Glenlair Trust: Who was James Clerk Maxwell
• Great Minds: James Clerk Maxwell, Electromagnetic Hero." SciShow 15 Sept 2016. Internet Video at Youtube.com.
• James Clerk Maxwell: Biography at Wikipedia
• 'Michael Faraday - a Sandemanian and Scientist' by Geoffrey Cantor