Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism, Vol. 1

by James Clerk Maxwell

Volume 1 of an important foundation work of modern physics describes electrostatic phenomena and develops a mathematical theory of electricity. Topics include electrical work and energy in a system of conductors, mechanical action between two electrical systems, spherical harmonics, electric current, conduction and resistance, electrolysis, and other subjects. 1891 edition.

Genres: Science, Physics, Nonfiction, Classics, Philosophy, Mathematics, Engineering

560 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1873

About the author

James Clerk Maxwell FRS FRSE (Mathematics, Trinity College, Cambridge, 1851) was a Scottish mathematical physicist. His most prominent achievement was to formulate a set of equations that describe electricity, magnetism, and optics as manifestations of the same phenomenon, namely the electromagnetic field. Maxwell's achievements concerning electromagnetism have been called the "second great unification in physics", after the first one realised by Isaac Newton.

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. Maxwell proposed that light is in fact undulations in the same medium that is the cause of electric and magnetic phenomena. The unification of light and electrical phenomena led to the prediction of the existence of radio waves.

Maxwell helped develop the Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution, which is a statistical means of describing aspects of the kinetic theory of gases. He is also known for presenting the first durable colour photograph in 1861 and for his foundational work on analysing the rigidity of rod-and-joint frameworks (trusses) like those in many bridges.

His discoveries helped usher in the era of modern physics, laying the foundation for such fields as special relativity and quantum mechanics. Many physicists regard Maxwell as the 19th-century scientist having the greatest influence on 20th-century physics, and his contributions to the science are considered by many to be of the same magnitude as those of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. In the millennium poll—a survey of the 100 most prominent physicists—Maxwell was voted the third greatest physicist of all time, behind only Newton and Einstein. On the centenary of Maxwell's birthday, Einstein himself described Maxwell's work as the "most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton."

Reviews

[Cassandra Kay Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I refuse to beat myself up too badly for not understanding most of this book. I realize I know almost nothing fundamentally about electricity, and of course as usual I got swamped in the mathematics. Maxwell also does not do you any favors in way of long explanation. He gets right to the point and does it more with numbers than words.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

While there are a few places where notation and time make it more difficult to understand Maxwell's explanations, for the most part it is astounding how modern Maxwell's presentation of the concepts is. Volume 1 is all about electrostatics and "electrokinetics" (i.e., circuits with constant currents). The book covers much of what is still covered today, although it has a lot more on the image charge method (the method of inversion, generally).

This is worth reading for historic value, but if you want to be up to date on electricity and magnetism, you should consult a more recent textbook. Otherwise you will probably struggle to understand what Maxwell is doing for he eschews vector notation which can make some equations seem much more cluttered. However, if you want to see the development and what was known in the 1870s, this is a great volume that is concise, offers interesting explanations, and historical knowledge and development.

[Anthony A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got through about 100 pages in this book and decided to stop. The book is just chock full of electric charge scenarios with lots of calculus - integrals, etc. This is a good book containing overall equations and information related to many different situations of electrostatics (at least in the first 100 pages or so). If I were to be interested in studying electricity and magnetism in detail, including repeating experiments from the past, etc, this would be a good reference. The only thing that I did not like was the lack of diagrams. Diagrams would have been very helpful, instead of having to rely on my mind's eye.