Maxwell

Maxwell, James Clerk (1831-79), man of science, was born at Edinburgh, and educated at the Academy and university there. In 1850 he went to Cambridge, and came out as second wrangler and equal for Smith's prize in 1854. He was scholar and fellow of Trinity College. In 1856 he was made professor at Aberdeen, in 1860 at King's College, London, and in 1871 at Cambridge. His chief work is Electricity and Magnetism,; but he wrote on the theory of heat, matter and motion, equilibrium of elastic solids, theory of rolling curves, and many other points. He studied also the question of colours and colour-blindness, and made important additions to molecular physics.