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IEE Review, February 2004
"..a sympathetic, eminently readable and interesting biography of one of the intellectual giants of the 19th century."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Good Book Guide, February 04
"..beautifully clear and accessible ... This is an entertaining and gripping read .."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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When they had their first glimpse of the newcomer, the boys of the second year class could scarcely contain their hostile curiosity. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
When they had their first glimpse of the newcomer, the boys of the second year class could scarcely contain their hostile curiosity. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent book, well-written, interesting and comprehensive. For many years I have wondered why Maxwell is not ranked along with Einstein and Newton and this book reinforced that opinion. I find historical biographies like this by far the best way to get a good understanding of where we are now and why - much better than the patronising popular science books attempting to convert maths into English. When you see, as this book shows you, the reasons why people like Maxwell were motivated, you can really begin to relate to significance of their work without needing to fully understand the detailed science behind it. Highly recommended.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Man Who Changed Everything: The life of James Clerk Maxwell, by Basil Mahon, John Wiley, 2004, 248 ff.
Electricity and magnetism united
By Howard Jones
Maxwell's is not a name that is likely to be as familiar as those of other great scientists we learn about in school: Newton, Boyle, Hooke, Faraday, for example. This may be because following much of Maxwell's work requires university standard mathematics. However, in this fascinating biography that moves through the chapters of his life, this higher mathematics is mostly confined to the Notes.
Maxwell was born in Edinburgh in 1831 and died at Cambridge in 1879 at age only 48. His study of philosophy at Edinburgh University stood him in good stead for his scientific work. He developed a great interest in geology, inspired no doubt by the work of those pioneer Scottish geologists Hutton, Geikie and Lyell. From this interest, Maxwell was one of the first to study glaciers and he invented the seismograph for the measurement of earthquakes. His interest in the properties of polarised light was stimulated by a visit to the workshop of Edinburgh optician, William Nicol. James already had three years at Edinburgh University behind him when he went to Cambridge University at only 19. At Trinity College he came under the tutelage of the famous polymath, William Whewell, as Master of the College. Here, as well as his academic studies, he wrote satirical poetry, `much closer to W.S. Gilbert than Tom Lehrer', as Mahon puts it. This early background is engagingly told by Mahon.
But it is for his papers on electromagnetism that Maxwell is best know. The fact that charges and magnets act on one another through space gave rise to two theories - the `action-at-a-distance', like gravity, favoured by Newton, and the `lines-of-force' theory advocated by Faraday. Maxwell resolved this controversy in favour of the latter. He also worked on diffusion in gases and a mathematical study of the nature of Saturn's rings, so the electromagnetic equations are only the most significant of his studies in a number of different fields of science. He helped to found the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge and he was a friend of Faraday's and also of William Thomson (later, Lord Kelvin).
This is an interesting, informative and highly readable biography, though as it deals with some quite difficult scientific concepts, some background in maths and science is undoubtedly an advantage in getting the most out of it. There is perhaps too much room devoted to Maxwell's uninspiring poetry, but the book has a Chronology of Maxwell's life, a short Bibliography of related books, a couple of dozen pages of additional Notes, which include some of the more mathematically difficult stuff, and a good, detailed Index.
Dr Howard A. Jones is the author of The Thoughtful Guide to God (2006) and The Tao of Holism (2008), both published by O Books of Winchester, U.K.
The Electric Life of Michael Faraday
Electricity and magnetism united
By Howard Jones
Maxwell's is not a name that is likely to be as familiar as those of other great scientists we learn about in school: Newton, Boyle, Hooke, Faraday, for example. This may be because following much of Maxwell's work requires university standard mathematics. However, in this fascinating biography that moves through the chapters of his life, this higher mathematics is mostly confined to the Notes.
Maxwell was born in Edinburgh in 1831 and died at Cambridge in 1879 at age only 48. His study of philosophy at Edinburgh University stood him in good stead for his scientific work. He developed a great interest in geology, inspired no doubt by the work of those pioneer Scottish geologists Hutton, Geikie and Lyell. From this interest, Maxwell was one of the first to study glaciers and he invented the seismograph for the measurement of earthquakes. His interest in the properties of polarised light was stimulated by a visit to the workshop of Edinburgh optician, William Nicol. James already had three years at Edinburgh University behind him when he went to Cambridge University at only 19. At Trinity College he came under the tutelage of the famous polymath, William Whewell, as Master of the College. Here, as well as his academic studies, he wrote satirical poetry, `much closer to W.S. Gilbert than Tom Lehrer', as Mahon puts it. This early background is engagingly told by Mahon.
But it is for his papers on electromagnetism that Maxwell is best know. The fact that charges and magnets act on one another through space gave rise to two theories - the `action-at-a-distance', like gravity, favoured by Newton, and the `lines-of-force' theory advocated by Faraday. Maxwell resolved this controversy in favour of the latter. He also worked on diffusion in gases and a mathematical study of the nature of Saturn's rings, so the electromagnetic equations are only the most significant of his studies in a number of different fields of science. He helped to found the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge and he was a friend of Faraday's and also of William Thomson (later, Lord Kelvin).
This is an interesting, informative and highly readable biography, though as it deals with some quite difficult scientific concepts, some background in maths and science is undoubtedly an advantage in getting the most out of it. There is perhaps too much room devoted to Maxwell's uninspiring poetry, but the book has a Chronology of Maxwell's life, a short Bibliography of related books, a couple of dozen pages of additional Notes, which include some of the more mathematically difficult stuff, and a good, detailed Index.
Dr Howard A. Jones is the author of The Thoughtful Guide to God (2006) and The Tao of Holism (2008), both published by O Books of Winchester, U.K.
The Electric Life of Michael Faraday
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Probably because he was a more boring person than ill tempered Newton and pacifist Einstein few people know James Clerk Maxwell, but still he completes the threesome of greatest scientists ever for his theory that unified electricity and magnetism into one series of laws, for his contributions to thermodynamics and a host of other things.
No juicy fights then, nor political confrontations, which should not discredit this book. It's just that its subject, however important, is not the most exciting man ever to roam the realm of science. This book matches Maxwell in decency and thoughtfulness.
No juicy fights then, nor political confrontations, which should not discredit this book. It's just that its subject, however important, is not the most exciting man ever to roam the realm of science. This book matches Maxwell in decency and thoughtfulness.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Amazing Brain
This book covers the history of: A man who could take what he saw and work out why it happens and produce the simple equations or rules that, in fact explain the majority of every... Read more
Published 1 month ago by TaffyTiny
Fascinating
An interesting insight into the life of a man who seems to have "fallen between the cracks" in terms of the impact he made on modern science which we all take gladly for granted... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Boxjarv
The man who made waves-James Clerk Maxwell
This is a clearly written biography of Clerk Maxwell and requires no specialist knowledge to understand the significance of his contribution to physics.Recommended!
Published 6 months ago by hypercritic
Excellent review of an amazing life
The author fully justifies his aim to show that Clerk Maxwell was the greatest Physicist between Newton and Einstein. Read more
Published 7 months ago by albatross
Superb biography and history of science
This book describes the life & achievements of James Clerk Maxwell, the man who first identified the relationship between electricity, magnetism & light. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Tony Howard
"One scientific epoch ended and another began with James Clerk...
A fantastic book on the life of the great Maxwell, that thanks to his discoveries, changed radically the approach to the physics and our's everyday life. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Alex
Enjoyable but...
I really enjoyed reading this book which covers the life of James Clerk Maxwell, the man famous for his equations that tied together electricity and magnetism to create formulae... Read more
Published 10 months ago by John Bland
The Man Who Changed Everything ---James Clerk Maxwell
The facts of the investigative work by Maxwell are well known in the scientific community. The Kings College building in central London is named after him, even though he was there... Read more
Published 14 months ago by hyfligh
Excellent book, highly recommend
Excellent book, supurbly written. The story of a man who cemented one of the pillars of which all modern science rests upon.
Published 16 months ago by Jeff
A Fine Biography of a Brilliant Thinker
James Clerk Maxwell is one of the greatest scientists that has ever lived and this book very simply explains why. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Paul Sloane
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