James Maxwell

Claimed by Nick Padula

Living from June 13th, 1831 to November 5th, 1879, James Clerk Maxwell was a Scottish scientist who studied mathematical physics. Maxwell is widely acclaimed as "the father of modern physics"[1]

Personal Life

Life and Education

Maxwell was born in Edinburgh to an affluent family. He was described by his mother as a curious kid, even from the tender age of three. Maxwell attended The Edinburgh Academy. For his tertiary education, Maxwell studied at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Cambridge. At age 25, he became Professor of Physics at Marischal College in Aberdeen. He then moved to King's College in London and subsequently to Cambridge to be the Professor of Experimental Physics in 1871. He was married to Mary Dewar in 1858 [2]

Work

Saturn's Ring

While working at Marischal College, Maxwell studied the rings of Saturn closely. He came to the conclusion that the planet's rings were comprised of small particles orbiting Saturn, as a solid ring would be unstable and break up [3]. This contradicted the accepted idea proposed by Christian Huygens in 1655 (but it did validate the claim in 1660 by poet and friend of Huygens, Jean Chapelain, that Saturn's rings are made of small satellites, a widely denounced claim). A gap in the outer part of Saturn's C ring is named after Maxwell.

Use by Other Scientists

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See also

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Further reading

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External links

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References

1. http://www.clerkmaxwellfoundation.org/html/who_was_maxwell-.html

2. http://www.biography.com/people/james-c-maxwell-9403463#saturns-rings

3. http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/366/1871/1717