James Clerk Maxwell

Originally published between 1990 and 2002 this set is now available in paperback for the first time. This is a comprehensive edition of Maxwell's manuscript papers, published in a virtually complete form. Maxwell's work was of central importance in establishing and developing the major themes of the physics of the nineteenth century. His theory of the electromagnetic field and the electromagnetic theory of light, and his development of statistical molecular theory, have established his special place in the history of physics. His fecundity of imagination and the sophistication of his examination of the foundation of physics give particular interest and importance to his writings. This edition includes Maxwell's letters to William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Michael Faraday, George Gabriel Stokes, Lord Rayleigh, Peter Guthrie Tait, and many other physicists, mathematicians and scholars. These letters, together with numerous drafts of his published scientific papers and reports on papers submitted to the Royal Society, illuminate his scientific thought, providing a unique perspective on classical physics at a crucial stage in its development.

This is a comprehensive edition of Maxwell's manuscript papers published virtually complete and largely for the first time. Maxwell's work was of central importance in establishing and developing the major themes of the physics of the nineteenth century: his theory of the electromagnetic field and the electromagnetic theory of light and his special place in the history of physics. His fecundity of imagination and the sophistication of his examination of the foundations of physics give particular interest and importance to his writings. Volume III: 1874–1879 covers the period of Maxwell's direction of the Cavendish Laboratory and documents the espousal of his theories by a wider circle of physicists. During this last period of his life his work began to achieve the pre-eminence in the classical physics of the nineteenth century, which it has retained ever since.

This celebrated treatise details Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism which underpins much modern physics. The theory elaborated here inspired both Lorentz's theories on the electron and Einstein's theory of relativity. This volume copntains Parts III and IV of the treatise dealing respectively with magnetism and finally with electromagnetism itself.

Originally published in 1891, and now part of the Oxford Classic Texts in the Physical Sciences series, this celebrated treatise details Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism that underpins much of modern physics. The theory inspired both Lorentz's theories on the electron and Einstein's theory of relativity.

Henry Cavendish (1731-1810), the grandson of the second duke of Devonshire, wrote papers on electrical topics for the Royal Society, but the majority of his electrical experiments did not become known until they were collected and published by James Clerk Maxwell a century later, in 1879, long after other scientists had been credited with the same results. Among Cavendish's discoveries were the concept of electric potential, which he called the 'degree of electrification'; an early unit of capacitance, that of a sphere one inch in diameter; the formula for the capacitance of a plate capacitor; the concept of the dielectric constant of a material; the relationship between electric potential and current, now called Ohm's Law; laws for the division of current in parallel circuits, now attributed to Charles Wheatstone; and the inverse square law of variation of electric force with distance, now called Coulomb's Law.