James Clerk Maxwell

James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 - 5 November 1879) was a Scottish physicist and mathematician whose work revolutionized the field of electromagnetism. He is best known for formulating Maxwell's equations, a set of four fundamental equations that unify electricity, magnetism, and optics into a single theory of the electromagnetic field. These equations laid the groundwork for much of modern physics, including relativity and electronics. Maxwell also made significant contributions to the kinetic theory of gases and created the first color image using the additive color method, a milestone in the development of color photography.

Quotes

• We may find illustrations of the highest doctrines of science in games and gymnastics, in travelling by land and by water, in storms of the air and of the sea, and wherever there is matter in motion.
• It is of great advantage to the student of any subject to read the original memoirs on that subject, for science is always most completely assimilated when it is in the nascent state...
• Colour as perceived by us is a function of three independent variables at least three are I think sufficient, but time will show if I thrive.
• The 2nd law of thermodynamics has the same degree of truth as the statement that if you throw a tumblerful of water into the sea, you cannot get the same tumblerful of water out again.
• The equations at which we arrive must be such that a person of any nation, by substituting the numerical values of the quantities as measured by his own national units, would obtain a true result.
• In every branch of knowledge the progress is proportional to the amount of facts on which to build, and therefore to the facility of obtaining data.