The Man Who Changed Everything: The Life of James Clerk Maxwell - Softcover

Mahon, Basil

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470861711 ISBN 13: 9780470861714

Publisher: Wiley, 2004

Synopsis

"Mahon has written a first-rate book on Maxwell's science and legacy."
―New Scientist

This is the first biography in twenty years of James Clerk Maxwell, one of the greatest scientists of our time and yet a man relatively unknown to the wider public. Approaching science with a freshness unbound by convention or previous expectations, he produced some of the most original scientific thinking of the nineteenth century ― and his discoveries went on to shape the twentieth century.

About this title

About the Author

Basil Mahon is a former officer in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and a graduate in Engineering. He is a retired Government Civil Servant and ran the 1991 census in England and Wales.
He has a long-time passion for the physical sciences and has for many years been fascinated by the impact that Maxwell has had on all our lives.

From the Back Cover

"Since Maxwell's time, physical reality has been thought of as represented by continuous fields, and not capable of any mechanical interpretation. This change in the conception of reality is the most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton."
―Albert Einstein

"He is easily, to physicists, the most magical figure of the nineteenth century."
―Times Literary Supplement

From the Inside Flap

James Clerk Maxwell (1831- 1879) changed our perception of reality and laid the foundations for many of the scientific and technological advances of the twentieth century. An unassuming and modest man, who simply wanted to understand how the world around him worked, he made fundamental contributions to every aspect of physical science. By discovering the nature of electromagnetic waves, he made possible the development of our great communications networks: television, radio, radar and the mobile telephone. He took the first colour photograph and introduced the system of thought experiments, later used by Einstein. His influence across all areas of physical science has been enormous. Often his ideas were ahead of his time and we had to wait many years before others confirmed his theories.

Leading scientists have always recognised Maxwell as a giant figure and he holds a unique position among them, inspiring both wonder and affection. In life, he was a blend of opposites - a serious man who saw fun everywhere, a hopeless teacher who inspired students, a shy man who was the hub of any gathering where he felt at ease.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0470861711
• ISBN 13: 9780470861714
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256