James Clerk Maxwell Perspectives on His Life and Work

James Clerk Maxwell (1831 -1879) was one of the most important mathematical physicists of all time, coming only after Newton and Einstein.In scientific terms his immortality is enshrined in electromagnetism and Maxwell's equations, but as this book shows, there was much more to Maxwell than electromagnetism, both in terms of his science and his wider life. Maxwell's life and contributions to science are so rich that they demand the expertiseof a range of academics - physicists, mathematicians, and historians of science and literature - to do him justice. The various chapters will enable Maxwell to be seen from a range ofperspectives.Early chapters deal with wider aspects of his life in time and place before looking in more detail at his wide ranging contributions to science, with concluding chapters on Maxwell's poetry and Christian faith. Each chapter is self-contained and can be read independently of the others.