A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field

James C. Maxwell

Dec 1996 · Wipf and Stock Publishers

About this ebook

"We owe Clerk Maxwell the precise formulation of the space-time laws of electromagnetic fields. Imagine his own feelings when the partial differential equations he formulated spread in the form of polarized waves with the speed of light! This change in the understanding of the structure of reality is the most profound and fruitful that has come to physics since Newton."--Albert Einstein

About the author

James Maxwell was a British physicist who developed a standard theoretical model for the modern understanding of electricity and magnetism. He showed that these two phenomena are two aspects of the same field and as a result he unified and systematized a vast field of research. Maxwell took many diverse observations and qualitative concepts developed by Michael Faraday and others, formulating them into a unified theory between 1864 and 1873. On the basis of this theory, Maxwell predicted that electromagnetic waves should exist and travel with the speed of light, and he identified light as a form of electromagnetic radiation. Both of these predictions were experimentally confirmed. Maxwell's other great contribution to physics was formulating a mathematical basis for the kinetic theory of gases. Using a statistical approach, he related the velocity of the molecules in a gas to its temperature, showing that heat results from the motion of molecules. Maxwell's result had been conjectured for some time, but it had never been supported experimentally. Maxwell then expanded his research to study viscosity, diffusion, and other properties of gases. Maxwell also provided the first satisfactory explanation of Saturn's rings. He established on theoretical grounds that the rings are not solid but rather composed of many small, fragmented objects that orbit Saturn. Thomas F. Torrance (1913-2007) was born in China in 1913 to missionary parents. For nearly thirty years until his retirement in 1979 he was Professor of Christian Dogmatics ("Systematic Theology") at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. A prolific writer on many topics, he has published numerous books and papers on the "Philosophy of Theology" dealing with the epistemology of theological concepts and with the relation of theology to natural science. In 1976-77 Torrance served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and in 1978 he was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion.