PHYSICIST

James Clerk Maxwell

1831 - 1879

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James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and light as different manifestations of the same phenomenon. Maxwell's equations for electromagnetism achieved the second great unification in physics, where the first one had been realised by Isaac Newton. Maxwell was also key in the creation of statistical mechanics. With the publication of "A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field" in 1865, Maxwell demonstrated that electric and magnetic fields travel through space as waves moving at the speed of light. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. James Clerk Maxwell is the 35th most popular physicist (down from 25th in 2019), the 86th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 70th in 2019) and the 12th most popular British Physicist.

James Clerk Maxwell was a Scottish physicist, mathematician, and astronomer. He is most famous for his work on electromagnetism.

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Among PHYSICISTS

Among physicists, James Clerk Maxwell ranks 35 out of 851. Before him are Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Owen Willans Richardson, Ibn al-Haytham, Heinrich Hertz, Lawrence Bragg, and Christiaan Huygens. After him are Louis de Broglie, Hendrik Lorentz, Daniel Bernoulli, Lise Meitner, Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, and Charles H. Townes.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1831, James Clerk Maxwell ranks 1. After him are John Stith Pemberton, Frederick III, German Emperor, Helena Blavatsky, Sitting Bull, James A. Garfield, Emperor Kōmei, Richard Dedekind, Xianfeng Emperor, Savitribai Phule, Leo von Caprivi, and Lucy Webb Hayes. Among people deceased in 1879, James Clerk Maxwell ranks 1. After him are Bernadette Soubirous, Honoré Daumier, Napoléon, Prince Imperial, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, Adolf Anderssen, Albrecht von Roon, Rowland Hill, Thomas Couture, Maria Teresa of Savoy, Gottfried Semper, and Charles De Coster.

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, James Clerk Maxwell ranks 86 out of 8,785. Before him are Owen Willans Richardson (1879), William Ewart Gladstone (1809), Empress Matilda (1102), Alfred Hitchcock (1899), Anne, Princess Royal (1950), and Tom Jones (1940). After him are Richard Burton (1925), Olav V of Norway (1903), Edward the Martyr (962), Virginia Woolf (1882), Francis Drake (1540), and Charles Babbage (1791).

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Among PHYSICISTS In United Kingdom

Among physicists born in United Kingdom, James Clerk Maxwell ranks 12. Before him are Edward Victor Appleton (1892), William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824), John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh (1842), Robert Hooke (1635), Charles Thomson Rees Wilson (1869), and Owen Willans Richardson (1879). After him are William Gilbert (1544), Nevill Francis Mott (1905), David J. Thouless (1934), Brian Josephson (1940), Patrick Blackett (1897), and Charles Glover Barkla (1877).

British born Physicists

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