Scotland's Forgotten Einstein, James Clerk Maxwell

Discovery

BBC

Science, Technology

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 4 May 2015

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dr Susie Mitchell hears the story of the 19th Century Scottish scientist James Clerk Maxwell. Maxwell's lifelong curiosity about the world and his gift for solving complicated puzzles led him to a string of discoveries. He was the first person to demonstrate a way of taking colour photographs, and he used mathematics to work out what the rings of Saturn were made of before any telescope or spacecraft was able to observe them close up. His most important achievement however was the discovery of electromagnetism, as neatly described by four now famous lines of equations. His prediction of electromagnetic waves led on to a huge range of today’s technology, from mobile phones and wi-fi equipment to radio, X-rays and microwave ovens. Albert Einstein considered him a genius, and another scientist Heinrich Hertz described him as ‘Maestro Maxwell’.

The 2015 International Year of Light celebrates, amongst other events, the anniversary of his ground-breaking publication about electromagnetism. So the only question is - how come the name James Clerk Maxwell isn't better known?

(Photo: James Clerk-Maxwell. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:24.9	searching and a lot more auction listen on BBC sounds just before this
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1:07.0	Choosing what to watch. Night after night. The flicking through. The endless searching is a nightmare.
1:14.0	We want to help you.
1:16.0	On our brand new podcast off the telly we share what we've been watching.
1:20.0	Cladie Aidea!
1:22.0	Load to games, loads of fun, loads of screaming.
1:24.5	Lovely.
1:25.5	Off the telly with me Joanna Paige.
	...

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