James Clerk Maxwell Biography

James Clerk Maxwell was a researcher who opened a new paradigm with his electromagnetic theory, influencing generations of researchers. He was without a doubt a child prodigy. At an early age, he was solving geometric problems and writing explanations that intrigued academics. Just as he considered how charged particles interact with their s urrounding area, one might consider the interaction of the conditions of his inherent nature and the environment of his early childhood. Maxwell's life could make a good case study for the strength of the influences of heredity vis-a-vis environment as he had strong influences from both sources.

Maxwell was born into a distinguished family with notable accomplishments among his ancestors. He had an almost ideal childhood, living in the country in close warm association with his parents and relatives. Like William Thomson Kelvin, he experienced the death of his mother during his childhood, an experience that drove him closer to his father. Neve rtheless, Maxwell did not have the personality of a high achiever. In fact, many reported him as being "eccentric," mostly due to his shyness and his rustic ways. Fortunately, with his eccentric personality came many admirable personality traits. He constantly demonstrated a great imagination, planning experiments to study what others considered i mpossible. He was a clear communicator, explaining complex topics to learned audiences.

James Clerk Maxwell was a descendent of the Clerk and the Maxwell families, both with a distinguished heritage. His father inherited a house in Edinburgh and land in the countryside. Maxwell was born in 1831 in Edinburgh while his parents were waiting for their country house to be built. They moved shortly after he was born. His father was a lawyer but was not very aggressive in pursuing new business. John Clerk Maxwell enjoyed studying science and building mechanical devices. As young as three years old, Jamesy was following his father insisting to know how everything worked. He was very close to his father all of his life. Maxwell's mother died suddenly when he was eight years old. For two years after his mother's death, he was educated by a series of tutors, but none were found suitable for Maxwell and his unique way of learning. His father and his aunt arranged for him to begin studies at the Edinburgh Academy. His first year at the academy was difficult as the children teased him for the way he talked and dressed. They co nsidered Maxwell stupid and nicknamed him "Dafty." From the second year at the academy, he started to show his true capabilities and his classmates were less cruel.

About this time, Maxwell became interested in geometry. He did a study of ovals and double-foci ellipses. Just after he turned 15, he wrote a paper on what he had learned from his drawing and measuring of ovals. His father showed the paper to Professor Forbes who read it to the Edinburgh Royal Society. Those who were impressed with this work re cognized that most of the conclusions were already known. However, they were amazed that the eloquence and intricacy in the description of the issues came from so young a person with so limited formal education. In 1847, at age 16, Maxwell began his college studies at the University of Edinburgh. He spent three years there and during this time, he co ntributed two more papers to the Edinburgh Royal Society. When he finished his studies at Edinburgh, his father sent him to Peterhouse, but shortly after beginning there, he transferred to Trinity where he believed he had a better chance for a fellowship. Maxwell studied at Trinity from early 1851 until he graduated in 1854. After graduation, he w as awarded the fellowship. Maxwell then applied for a position at Marischal College to be close to his ailing father. However, his father did not live much longer. After his father's death in April 1855, he accepted the position at Marischal.

In 1858, he married the well-educated Katherine Dewar. Two years later, he had to leave Marischal, the victim of an institutional merger. He was immediately invited to teach at King's College, London. It was in London that he did his most prominent work. He remained there until he resigned his post (probably due to exhaustion) in the spring of 1865. He spent most of the next five years at his country home writing a book on his theory. He considered himself retired.

To stay involved in academia, he did consulting work for Cambridge. His encouraging Cambridge to offer courses on heat and electromagnetism directly influenced the foundation of the Cavendish Laboratory. It was only natural that the first Cavendish professorship should be offered to him a nd he accepted. During his eight years as Cavendish professor, he worked to prepare for publication the experiment papers Henry Cavendish had written. It is well accepted that this self-imposed responsibility was influential in bringing due respect to Cavendish's work. In May 1879, as the school year wound down, it was obvious to many that Maxwell's hea lth was beginning to fail. He tried to return to Cambridge in the autumn, but he could scarcely walk. On November 5, 1879, Maxwell died of abdominal cancer at the age of 48.

Maxwell's work leading to his kinetic theory of gases and his theory of electromagnetic fields was a logical advance from James Prescott Joule's work. Both researchers measured the velocity of gas molecules and both recognized that heat was not the fluid that it once was thought to be. The importance of Maxwell's w ork was the direction that it gave to new understanding. Joule showed only the scientific community what was possible to measure and what might be proven. Maxwell went forward with detailed mathematical models that left no holes unfilled, with one important exception. Maxwell used statistics to show the high probability that proposed laws would direct the behavior of matter. Discussing the probability of natural law took science away from determinism. This opened the door for the modern study of physics. Albert Einstein's theory of relativity and the recently nurtured chaos theory could not have been developed except for this new philosophi cal direction.

Maxwell began measuring the average velocity of a gas molecule with the objective to investigate whether the perceived random order of its movement could be predicted with some degree of accuracy. What he found was that the greater the velocity of the molecules, the greater the heat generated. There was a direct relationship between the am ount of movement among the molecules and the amount of heat in a gas. In this experimental demonstration, heat was shown undeniably to be a property of particle movement and not a fluid flowing from one object to another. Furthermore, Maxwell's findings showed that the movement of particles could be controlled through increasing or reducing heat.< /para>

Maxwell understood Michael Faraday's theory of electric and magnetic fields. He worked to demonstrate what Faraday could not explain himself through complex calculations. Assuming that the space surrounding a charged particle contained a field of force, Maxwell created a mathematical mode l demonstrating all the possible phenomena of electric and magnetic fields. Through this model, Maxwell demonstrated that the electric and magnetic fields worked together. He coined the term "electromagnetic" to name this new breakthrough.

This discovery is important for chemistry because it ultimately led to the discovery of the electron. Joseph John Thomson discovered the electron when he was investigating the effects of the electromagnetic field on gases, applying the principles that Maxwell had established. Research on the ef fects of light on elements was furthered by Maxwell's work. His subsequent work on the velocity of the oscillation of electromagnetic fields demonstrated that light should be considered a form of electromagnetic radiation. This consideration affected light effect theories.

Maxwell was a brilliant man who appeared at times to live in another world. Considering that he recognized deeply the order and potential in some things that others take for granted (such as light and heat), perhaps he did live in another world. However, it was evident by his appreciation of a good laugh with friends that he was not so dista nt. Furthermore, he could not ignore another brilliant mind that was not yet recognized. When he felt that Josiah Willard Gibbs did not receive the respect that he deserved, he built a three-dimensional model of the phenomenon Gibbs was describing. Maxwell named the model after Gibbs. He did this in his dying days; two weeks after he finished it, James C lerk Maxwell died.