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Authorised form of nameMaxwell; James Clerk (1831 - 1879); physicist
Other forms of nameJames
Other forms of surnameClerk Maxwell
Dates1831 - 1879
NationalityBritish
Place of birthEdinburgh, Scotland
Date of birth13 June 1831
Place of deathCambridge
Date of death05 November 1879
Research fieldPhysics
ActivityEducation:
Edinburgh; Peterhouse, Cambridge; Trinity College, Cambridge. BA (1854), MA
Career:
Shared Smith's Prize (1854) with Edward John Routh (FRS 1872); Professor of Natural Philosophy, Marischal College, Aberdeen (1856); Professor of Natural Philosophy, King's College, London (1860-1865); Professor of Experimental Physics, Cambridge (1871); died of cancer
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election06/06/1861
RSActivityMedals and prizes:
Rumford Medal 1860
Lectures:
Bakerian 1866
RelationshipsSon of John Clerk, who assumed the name Maxwell on inheriting an estate in Kircudbright, and his wife Frances, daughter of Robert Clay of Charlton, Northumberland; nephew of Sir George Clerk (FRS 1819); cousin of Henry Clerk (FRS 1848); great-grandson of Sir John Clerk (FRS 1729); married (1858) Katherine Mary Dewar, daughter of the Principal of Marischal College, Aberdeen
SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB
Authority:
Birth date verified from the Parochial Records by Professor Bolton (Sep 1977), and confirmed by DSB entry.
Obituaries:
Proc Roy Soc 1881-1882 vol 33 pp i-xvi
References:
J S Rowlinson, 'Energy in the 19th Century', review of Crosbie Smith, The Science of Energy. A Cultural History of Energy Physics in Victorian Britain in NR 1999 vol 53 pp 281-282
Sir Brian Pippard, 'Genius in Context', review of P M Harman, The Natural Philosophy of James Clerk Maxwell in NR 1999 vol 53 pp 279-281, plate
Frank A J L James, 'Maxwell's Early Career', review of P M Harman, The Scientific Letters and Papers of James Clerk Maxwell. Vol 1. 1846-1862 in NR 1991 vol 45 pp 266-270
Gillian Beer, 'Translation or Transformation? The Relations of Literature and Science' in NR 1990 vol 44 pp 81-99
T M Charlton, 'An Extension of Maxwell's Theory of Pin-Jointed Frameworks by M W Crofton, FRS' in NR 1989 vol 43 pp 53-56
P M Harman, 'Newton to Maxwell: the Principia and British Physics' in NR 1988 vol 42 pp 75-96
C Domb, 'James Clerk Maxwell in London 1860-1865' in NR 1980 vol 35 pp 67-103
H C Bolton and W C Price, 'The Date of Birth of James Clerk Maxwell' in NR 1977-8 vol 32 pp 213-214
J G O'Hara, 'George Johnstone Stoney, FRS, and the Concept of the Electron' in NR 1974-5 vol 29 pp 265-276
R V Jones, 'James Clerk Maxwell at Aberdeen 1856-1860' in NR 1973-4 vol 28 pp 57-81, plate
Otto Mayr, 'Victorian Physicists and Speed Regulation: An Encounter Between Science and Technology' in NR 1971 vol 26 pp 205-228
T M Charlton, 'Maxwell, Jenkin and Cotterill and the Theory of Statically-Indeterminate Structures' in NR 1971 vol 26 pp 233-246
William P D Wightman, 'Aberdeen University and the Royal Society' in NR 1954-55 vol 11 pp 145-158
Derek J Price, 'The Cavendish Laboratory Archives' in NR 1953 vol 10 pp 139-147
Graeme Gooday, 'A Victorian scientist and engineer', review of Gillian Cookson and Colin Hempstead, 'Fleeming Jenkin and the birth of electrical engineering' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp 265-266
K K Schwarz, 'Faraday and Babbage' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp367-381
J S Rowlinson, 'Le Sage's Essai de chymie mechanique' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 35-45
J S Rowlinson, 'The work of Thomas Andrews and James Thomson on the liquefaction of gases' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 143-159
J S Rowlinson, 'Gases and liquids. How fluids unmix: discoveries by the school of Van der Waals and Kamerlingh Onnes, by J L Sengers' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 255-256
B Pippard, 'A paragon of physics. <i>The man who changed everything - the life of James Clerk Maxwell</i> by Basil Mahon' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 103-104
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/64037507
CodeNA8259
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
IM/003028Maxwell, James Clerknd
IM/003029Maxwell, James Clerknd
MM/16/56Letter from James Clerk Maxwell, Ardhallow, Dunoon, to WD Nivenc.1874-1875
MM/10/19Letter from James Clerk Maxwell, Cambridge, to RH Scott c.1879
MM/10/18Copy of letter from RH Scott to James Clerk Maxwell9 June 1879
A/0183Maxwell, James Clerk
MS/377/1/80Letter from James Clerk Maxwell, 11 Scroope Terrace, Cambridge, to [William Fletcher] Barrett 30 November 1874
IM/005402Maxwell, James Clerknd
MS/743/1/17Letter from George Wilson, Elm Cottage, Melrose, to John [Hall Gladstone] 3 September 1856
MS/377/1/171Notes by William Fletcher Barrett [?] on papers James Clerk Maxwellnd
MS/377/1/134Letter from Silvanus Phillips Thompson, University College, Bristol, to [William Fletcher] Barrett7 November 1879
NLB/14/842Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Herrn Professor Dr Siegfried Kalischer, Ansbacherstrasse 14, Berlin, W. 27 May 1897
RR/7/221Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'Magnetical observations in the Britannia and Conway tubular iron bridges' by George Biddell Airy13 May 1873
RR/4/181Referee's report by John Tyndall, on an appendix of the paper 'On the theory of compound colours, and the relations of the colours of the spectrum' by James Clerk Maxwell10 May 1860
PT/72/7/2Diagram, determination of coefficients of induction by electric balance by [James Clerk Maxwell][1864]
RR/7/451Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'The residual charge of the Leyden jar' by John Hopkinson1876
RR/4/263Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the long spectrum of electric light' by George Gabriel Stokes8 July 1862
RR/5/137Referee's report by William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, on a paper 'A dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field' by James Clerk Maxwell15 March 1865
RR/5/216Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On plane water-lines in two dimensions' by William John Macquorn Rankine[1864]
RR/7/247Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'Visible direction: being an elementary contribution to the study of monocular and binocular vision' by James Jago1873
RR/6/303Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'Sixth memoir on radiation and absorption.— Influence of colour and mechanical condition on radiant heat' by John Tyndall22 February 1866
RR/7/49Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'Researches in animal electricity' by Charles Bland Radcliffe1870
RR/7/370Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On attraction and repulsion resulting from radiation - Part II' by William Crookes1875
RR/7/162Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On a voltaic standard of electromotive force' by Josiah Latimer Clark1872
RR/7/339Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the refraction of sound by the atmosphere' by Osbourne Reynolds1874
RR/7/53Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the thermodynamic theory of waves of finite longitudinal disturbance' by William John Macquorn Rankine26 March 1870
RR/7/349Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the centre of motion in the human eye' by J L Tupper24 November 1874
RR/7/469Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on two papers 'On the effect of heat on the chloride, bromide, and iodide of silver' and 'On the effects of heat on some chloro-brom-iodides of silver' by G F Rodwell1876
RR/8/31Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'Residual charge of the leyden jar.—II. Dielectric properties of various glasses' by John Hopkinson25 February 1877
RR/8/33Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'Electrostatic capacity of glass' by John Hopkinson21 June 1877
RR/8/88Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On repulsion resulting from radiation.—Part VI' by William Crookes23 October 1878
RR/8/105Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the thermo-electric properties of liquids' by George Gore17 April 1878
RR/6/117Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'Account of experiments on the flexural and torsional rigidity of a glass rod, leading to the determination of the rigidity of glass' by Joseph David Everett1 March 1866
RR/8/141Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On a new method of investigating the magnetic lines of force in magnets, demonstrating the obliquity of the equator and axis of bar magnets' by Richard Charles Shettle21 December 1878
RR/8/117Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'Researches in spectrum-analysis in connexion with the spectrum of the sun.— No. V' by Joseph Norman Lockyer1 June 1878
RR/6/178Referee's report by William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, on the Bakerian Lecture 'On the viscosity or internal friction of air and other gases' by James Clerk Maxwell11 April 1866
RR/7/434Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the gaseous state of matter' by Thomas Andrews1876
RR/8/89Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on the Bakerian Lecture 'On the illumination of lines of molecular pressure, and the trajectory of molecules' by William Crookesnd [1878]
RR/8/87Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on the Bakerian Lecture 'On repulsion resulting from radiation. –Part V' by William Crookes23 January 1878
RR/6/138Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the absorption and dialytic separation of gases by colloid septa' by Thomas Graham17 July 1866
MM/10/17Letter from George Gabriel Stokes, Cambridge, to RH Scott8 June 1879
MS/377/1/81Letter from James Clerk Maxwell, 11 Scroope Terrace, Cambridge, to [William Fletcher] Barrett 16 June 1875
IM/003027Maxwell, James Clerknd
MM/16/57Letter from James Clerk Maxwell, Glenlair, to George Gabriel Stokes2 September 1879
MM/10/20Copy of letter from RH Scott to James Clerk Maxwell12 June 1879
MM/10/21Letter from James Clerk Maxwell, Cambridge, to RH Scott 11 October 1879
RR/7/249Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'Determination of the number of electrostatic units in the electromagnetic unit made in the Physical Laboratory of Glasgow University' by Dugald Kichan1873
RR/6/191Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the mechanical possibility of the descent of glaciers, by their weight only' by Henry Moseley2 March 1869
RR/6/179Referee's report by William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, on a paper 'On the dynamical theory of gases' by James Clerk Maxwell13 October 1866
RR/7/465Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the forces caused by the communication of heat between a surface and a gas; and on a new photometer' by Osborne Reynolds7 April 1876
RR/8/102Letter from James Clerk Maxwell, to George Gabriel Stokes, regarding a paper 'Measurements of electrical constants. No. II. On the specific inductive capacities of certain dielectrics. Part I' by J E H Gordon12 August 1878
RR/7/55bisReferee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the mathematical theory of stream-lines, especially those with four foci and upwards' by William John Macquorn Rankine2 March 1870
EC/1861/07Maxwell, James Clerk: certificate of election to the Royal Society
RR/6/119Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'Account of experiments on torsion and flexure for the determination of rigidities.—Third paper' by Joseph David Everettnd [1868]
RR/7/431Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'The action of light on selenium' by William Grylls Adams and R E Day31 October 1876
PT/72/7Paper, 'A dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field' by J [James] Clerk Maxwell[1864]
RR/4/180Referee's report by John Tyndall, on a paper 'On the theory of compound colours, and the relations of the colours of the spectrum' by James Clerk Maxwell24 May 1860
PT/60/4/5Plate, figures I and IV showing paper with slits and graph of chromatic relations by unknown artist[1860]
PT/60/4/4Plate, figures I-IV showing paper with slits and graphs of standard colour values and chromatic relations by unknown artist[1860]
PT/60/4/2Plate, 'Instrument for making definite mixtures of the colours of the spectrum' by James Clerk Maxwell[1860]
PT/60/4/1Manuscript, 'On the theory of compound colours, and the relations of the colours of the spectrum' by J [James] Clerk Maxwell[1860]
RR/5/48Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the nature of the sun’s magnetic action upon the earth' by Charles Chambers[1863]
RR/6/180Referee's report by Henry Charles Fleeming Jenkin, on a paper 'On a method of making a direct comparison of electrostatic with electro­magnetic force; with a note on the electromagnetic theory of light' by James Clerk Maxwell16 July 1868
RR/5/219Second referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On spectra of electric of light, as modified by the nature of the electrodes and the media of discharge' by Thomas Romney Robinson10 September 1862
PT/72/7/1Manuscript, 'A dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field' by J [James] Clerk Maxwell[1864]
RR/5/218Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On spectra of electric of light, as modified by the nature of the electrodes and the media of discharge' by Thomas Romney Robinson14 July 1862
PT/60/4/3Plate, figures 1-7 showing apparatus, mirrors, prisms, and observations of spectra and intensity by unknown artist[1860]
RR/6/118Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'Account of experiments on torsion and flexure for the determination of rigidities' by Joseph David Everett4 March 1867
RR/7/470Letter from George Carey Foster, on two papers 'On the effect of heat on the chloride, bromide, and iodide of silver' and 'On the effects of heat on some chloro-brom-iodides of silver' by G F Rodwell to James Clerk Maxwell19 July 1876
RR/8/190Letter from George Gabriel Stokes, to James Clerk Maxwell, regarding a paper 'On certain dimensional properties of matter in the gaseous state. - Part I. Experimental researches on thermal transpiration of gases through porous plates and on the laws of transpiration and impulsion, including an experimental proof that gas is not a continuous plenum. - Part II. On an extension of the dynamical theory of gas, which includes the stresses, tangential and normal, caused by a varying condition of gas, and affords an explanation of the phenomena of transpiration and impulsion' by Osborne Reynolds3 June 1879
MC/10/82Letter from J [James] Clerk Maxwell, 11 Scroope Terrace, to the Royal Society9 March 1874
MC/10Volume 10 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal SocietyJuly 1873-1876
MC/11/183Letter from J [James] Clerk Maxwell to Professor G G [George Gabriel] Stokes, Secretary of the Royal Societyc. March 1878
MC/11Volume 11 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1877-1879
MC/12/5Letter from J Broun, 9 Abercorn Place, to the Royal Society12 January 1880
MC/12Volume 12 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1880-1883
RR/6/315Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the thermal resistance of liquids' by Frederick Guthrie20 April 1869
RR/6/278Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the communication of vibration from a vibrating body to a surrounding gas' by George Gabriel Stokes28 July 1868
RR/7/245Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On a new relation between heat and electricity' by Frederick Guthrie1873
AP/58/3Paper, 'On the determination of Verdet's constant' by J E H [James Edward Henry] Gordon1875
RR/7/418Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'Electrodynamic qualities of metals (continued from Phil. Trans. Vol. 146. Read Feb. 28, 1856). —Part VI. effects of stress on magnetization' by William Thomson, Lord Kelvin to the Secretary of the Royal Society1875
AP/58/3/1Unpublished manuscript, 'On the determination of Verdet's constant' by J E H [James Edward Henry] Gordon1875
RR/8/70Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the increase in resistance to the passage of an electric current produced on certain wires by stretching' by Herbert Tomlinsonnd [1877]
PP/17/39Paper, 'On the theory of electrodynamics' by Joseph Larmor1891
RR/5/103Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the tides of the arctic seas. Part I. On the diurnal tides of Port Leopold, North Somerset' by Samuel Haughton21 July 1862
RR/6/124Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'Note on Professor Sylvester’s representation of the motion of a free rigid body by that of a material ellipsoid whose centre is fixed, and which rolls on a rough plane' by Norman Macleod Ferrers14 August 1869
RR/6/285Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the stability of domes.—Part II' by Edward Wyndham Tarn18 December 1866
PT/60/4Paper, 'On the theory of compound colours, and the relations of the colours of the spectrum' by J [James] Clerk Maxwell[1860]
RR/5/6Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the strains in the Interior of beams' by George Biddell Airy[1862]
RR/6/100Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'New researches upon the dispersion of the optic axes in Harmotome and Wöhlerite, proving these minerals to belong to the clinorhombic [oblique] system' by Alfred Louis Olivier Des Cloizeauxnd [1868]
RR/6/190Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the impact of compressible bodies, considered with reference to the theory of pressure' by R Moon8 July 1868
RR/6/301Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On Calorescence' by John Tyndall1 January 1866
RR/7/152Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'Experiments on the directive power of large steel magnets, of bars of magnetized soft iron, and of galvanic coils, in their action on external small magnets. With appendix, containing an investigation of the attraction of a galvanic coil on a small magnetic mass' by George Biddell Airy17 May 1872
RR/7/295Referee's report by John Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the action of heat on gravitating masses' by William Crookes24 February 1874
RR/7/356Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the forms of equipotential curves and surfaces and on lines of flow' by W G Adams1875
RR/7/417Letter from James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'Electrodynamic qualities of metals (continued from Phil. Trans. Vol. 146. Read Feb. 28, 1856). —Part VI. effects of stress on magnetization' by William Thomson, Lord Kelvin to the Secretary of the Royal Society16 July 1875
RR/7/478Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the nature of the force producing the motion of a body exposed to rays of heat and light' by Arthur Schuster1876
RR/8/72Letter from James Clerk Maxwell, to William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, regarding a paper 'On the increase in resistance to the passage of an electric current produced on certain wires by stretching' by Herbert Tomlinson24 April 1877
RR/8/116Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'Researches in spectrum analysis in connection with the spectrum of the sun' by Joseph Norman Lockyer19 March 1878
RR/8/123Referee's report by William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, on a paper 'On stresses in rarified gases arising from inequalities of temperature' by James Clerk Maxwell15 June 1878
RR/8/143Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'Electrodynamic qualities of metals.—Part VII. Effects of stress on the magnetization of iron, nickel, and cobalt' by William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin3 June 1878
RR/8/188Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On certain dimensional properties of matter in the gaseous state. - Part I. Experimental researches on thermal transpiration of gases through porous plates and on the laws of transpiration and impulsion, including an experimental proof that gas is not a continuous plenum. - Part II. On an extension of the dynamical theory of gas, which includes the stresses, tangential and normal, caused by a varying condition of gas, and affords an explanation of the phenomena of transpiration and impulsion' by Osborne Reynolds28 March 1879
RR/8/207Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on a paper 'On the sensitive state of electrical discharges through rarefied gases' by William Spottiswoode and John Fletcher Moulton, Baron Moulton12 June 1879
RR/6/17Referee's report by James Clerk Maxwell, on three papers 'On the resistance of the air to the motion of elongated projectiles having variously formed heads' by Francis Bashforth, 'On the resistance of the air to rifled projectiles' by J A Longridge and 'On the law of the resistance of the air to rifled projectiles' by Charles Watkins Merrifield19 May 1868
RR/6/181Referee's report by William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, on a paper 'On a method of making a direct comparison of electrostatic with electro­magnetic force; with a note on the electromagnetic theory of light' by James Clerk Maxwell, and 'Researches on solar physics. Heliographical positions and areas of sun-spots observed with the Kew photoheliograph during the years 1862 and 1863' by Warren De La Rue, Balfour Stewart and Benjamin Loewy19 October 1868
RR/7/471Letter from James Clerk Maxwell, on two papers 'On the effect of heat on the chloride, bromide, and iodide of silver' and 'On the effects of heat on some chloro-brom-iodides of silver' by G F Rodwell to the Secretary of the Royal Society19 June 1876
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