First Published in 1967. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

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.

First Published in 1967. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Arguably the most influential nineteenth-century scientist for twentieth-century physics, James Clerk Maxwell (1831 1879) demonstrated that electricity, magnetism and light are all manifestations of the same phenomenon: the electromagnetic field. A fellow of Trinity College Cambridge, Maxwell became, in 1871, the first Cavendish Professor of Physics at Cambridge. His famous equations - a set of four partial differential equations that relate the electric and magnetic fields to their sources, charge density and current density - first appeared in fully developed form in his 1873 Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism. This two-volume textbook brought together all the experimental and theoretical advances in the field of electricity and magnetism known at the time, and provided a methodical and graduated introduction to electromagnetism. Volume 1 covers the first elements of Maxwell's electromagnetic theory: electrostatics, and electrokinematics, including detailed analyses of electrolysis, conduction in three dimensions, and conduction through heterogeneous media.

James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879), first Cavendish Professor of Physics at Cambridge, made major contributions to many areas of theoretical physics and mathematics, not least his discoveries in the fields of electromagnetism and of the kinetic theory of gases, which have been regarded as laying the foundations of all modern physics. This work of 1881 was edited from Maxwell's notes by a colleague, William Garnett, and had formed the basis of his lectures. Several of the articles included in the present work were also included in his two-volume Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism (1873), also reissued in this series. The preface indicates that the two works were aimed at somewhat different audiences, the larger work assuming a greater knowledge of higher mathematics. Maxwell had also modified some of his methodology, and hoped to encourage the reader to develop an understanding of concepts relating to electricity.

Henry Cavendish (1731 1810) was an English scientist whose published work was mostly concerned with electricity. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1760. Cavendish was a prolific scientific investigator, performing experiments on not only electricity but also magnetism, thermometry, gases, heat potential and the chemical composition of water. Although he published some of his research, including his discovery of hydrogen, the majority of his work remained unpublished until 1879, when James Clerk Maxwell published a collection of Cavendish's electrical experiments. These papers showed that Cavendish had discovered many important electrical concepts which had since been credited to other researchers, including the concept of electric potential. First published in 1921, these volumes are a collection of Cavendish's results from his many experiments. Volume 1 is a revised edition of James Clerk Maxwell's 1879 volume Electrical Researches of Henry Cavendish, also reissued in this series.

The publication in 1890 of the two-volume Scientific Papers of James Clerk Maxwell, edited by W. D. Niven, was one of the two objects of a committee formed 'for the purpose of securing a fitting memorial of him' (the other object being the commissioning of a marble bust for the Cavendish Laboratory). Before his death in 1879 at the age of 48, Clerk Maxwell had made major contributions to many areas of theoretical physics and mathematics, not least his discoveries in the fields of electromagnetism and of the kinetic theory of gases, which have been regarded as laying the foundations of all modern physics. He is generally considered the third most important physicist of all time, after Newton and Einstein. These collected shorter works, beginning with a paper written at the age of 15, show the wide range of Clerk Maxwell's interests across mathematics, physics and chemistry.

The publication in 1890 of the two-volume Scientific Papers of James Clerk Maxwell, edited by W. D. Niven, was one of the two objects of a committee formed 'for the purpose of securing a fitting memorial of him' (the other object being the commissioning of a marble bust for the Cavendish Laboratory). Before his death in 1879 at the age of 48, Clerk Maxwell had made major contributions to many areas of theoretical physics and mathematics, not least his discoveries in the fields of electromagnetism and of the kinetic theory of gases, which have been regarded as laying the foundations of all modern physics. He is generally considered the third most important physicist of all time, after Newton and Einstein. These collected shorter works, beginning with a paper written at the age of 15, show the wide range of Clerk Maxwell's interests across mathematics, physics and chemistry.

Arguably the most influential nineteenth-century scientist for twentieth-century physics, James Clerk Maxwell (1831 1879) demonstrated that electricity, magnetism and light are all manifestations of the same phenomenon: the electromagnetic field. A fellow of Trinity College Cambridge, Maxwell became, in 1871, the first Cavendish Professor of Physics at Cambridge. His famous equations - a set of four partial differential equations that relate the electric and magnetic fields to their sources, charge density and current density - first appeared in fully developed form in his 1873 Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism. This two-volume textbook brought together all the experimental and theoretical advances in the field of electricity and magnetism known at the time, and provided a methodical and graduated introduction to electromagnetic theory. Volume 2 covers magnetism and electromagnetism, including the electromagnetic theory of light, the theory of magnetic action on light, and the electric theory of magnetism.

Published posthumously in 1888, this treatise by the first Cavendish Professor of Physics at Cambridge explores and explains the fundamental principles and laws that are the basis of elementary physics. Maxwell was at the forefront of physics and mathematics during the nineteenth century and his pioneering work brought together existing ideas to give 'a dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field'. This work inspired not only the applications of electromagnetic waves like fibre optics but also Einstein's theory of relativity. The text explains many of Newton's laws and the unifying concepts that govern a body and its motion. The increment in the complexity of topics allows one to build a solid understanding of the accepted laws of mathematical physics that explain topics like force, work, energy and the centre mass point of a material system. This logical guide and instruction is as timeless as the laws of physics that it explains.

The final volume of James Clerk Maxwell's correspondence and manuscript papers covers the years 1874-1879, during Maxwell's Cambridge Professorship, his directing of the Cavendish Laboratory, and his work as writer and editor. His letters show his response to innovations in physical theory--by Boltzmann, Gibbs, Lorentz, and van der Waals--and further explorations in statistical physics and the kinetic theory of gases. His letters reflect his influence on the younger generation of physicists whose outlook was shaped by "Maxwellian physics". This edition is annotated with a full historical commentary.

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 I: 1846-1862 documents Maxwell's education and early scientific work and his major period of scientific innovation - his first formulation of field theory, the electromagnetic theory of light and the statistical theory of gases. Important letters and manuscript drafts illuminate this fundamental early work and the volume includes his letters to friends and family, general essays and lectures and juvenilia.

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 II: 1862 1873 contains texts which illuminate Maxwell's scientific maturity. In this period he wrote the classic works on field physics and statistical molecular theory which established his unique status in the history of science. His important correspondence with Thomson and Tait provides remarkable insight into the major themes of his physics and the writing of his seminal Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism (1873).

Best known for his theory of electromagnetism, James Clerk Maxwell (1831 79) was Cambridge University's first Cavendish Professor of Experimental Physics. Albert Einstein described his work as 'the most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton'. He carried out brilliant work in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, laying the foundation for the kinetic theory of gases. This book, published originally in 1871, summarises his work in this field. It includes the 'Maxwell relations' that still feature in every standard text on thermodynamics. It also outlines his famous thought experiment, later named Maxwell's 'demon'. This idea, which appeared to contradict the second law of thermodynamics, would inspire scientific debate well into the twentieth century. More recently, it has sparked developments in the new sciences of nanotechnology and quantum computing.

2013 Reprint of 1865 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. One of the unquestioned triumphs of nineteenth century physics was Maxwell's discovery of the equations for the electromagnetic field. "A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field" is the third of James Clerk Maxwell's papers regarding electromagnetism, published in 1865. It is the paper in which the original set of four Maxwell's equations first appeared. The concept of displacement current, which he had introduced in his 1861 paper "On Physical Lines of Force," was utilized for the first time, to derive the electromagnetic wave equation.