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1 results

  • 5 - The Origin of Maxwell’s Equations

  • from Case Study II - Maxwell’s Equations
  • Malcolm S. Longair, University of Cambridge
  • Book:
    Theoretical Concepts in Physics
    Published online:
    27 March 2020
    Print publication:
    16 April 2020, pp 75-106

  • Summary

    Maxwell's discovery of the equations for the electromagnetic field was one of the greatest achievements of nineteenth-century physics. The laws of electrostatics, magnetostatics and the magnetic fields produced by steady currents were established by the 1820s. Faraday's discovery of electromagnetic induction in 1831 led to his concept of magnetic field lines and the visualisation of the laws of induction as being determined by the rate of cutting of the field lines. Maxwell mathematised Faraday's model of magnetic field lines by adopting a mechanical model of the aether. His theoretical investigations led to the introduction of the displacement current and the discovery that light is electromagnetic radiation.