James Clerk Maxwell

James MaxwellGreat Britain (1831-1879)

For his theoretical work summarizing the ideas of electricity and magnetism, the "maxwell" unit was named.

He was born in 1831, in Edinburgh, Scotland. At the age of fifteen he presented his first paper before to the Edinburgh Royal Society. Later, he graduated from Cambridge University and became a college professor.

The "Maxwell Equations" showed the formal linkage between the properties of electrical and magnetic fields. This connection was later used to show that such fields give rise to electromagnetic waves and that not only visible light, but also other radiations were electromagnetic. These waves were later confirmed by Heinrich Hertz and were the first inkling of the revolution in communications that continues to this day.

In addition to his work in electromagnetic theory, he also determined the velocity distribution of atoms in a gas, the "Maxwell velocity distribution". 

(Picture from Michael H. Hart, "The 100", Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ (1987))

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