Maxwell's Rainbow

A new 3D school show exploring Maxwell's work on the unification of electricity, magnetism and light. Suitable for S3 and above.
Commissioned by the James Clerk Maxwell Foundation
and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

James Clerk Maxwell was one of the greatest scientists who have ever lived. To him we owe the most significant discovery of our age - the theory of electromagnetism. He is rightly acclaimed as the father of modern physics, but also made fundamental contributions to mathematics, astronomy and engineering. Although not as widely known by the public as Newton or Einstein, his discoveries have helped shape the modern world.

A Short Biography

JAMES CLERK MAXWELL - 1831-1879 :
On the 13th June 1831 James Clerk Maxwell was born in Edinburgh, at 14 India Street, a house built for his father in that part of Edinburgh's elegant Georgian New Town which was developed after the Napoleonic Wars. Although the family moved to their estate at Glenlair, near Dumfries, shortly afterwards, James returned to Edinburgh to attend school at The Edinburgh Academy. He continued his education at the Universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge. In 1856, at the early age of 25, he became Professor of Physics at Marischal College, Aberdeen. From there he moved first to King's College, London, and then, in 1871, to become the first Professor of Experimental Physics at Cambridge where he directed the newly created Cavendish Laboratory. It was at the Cavendish, over the next fifty years, that so much of the physics of today continued to develop from Maxwell's inspiration. Find out more...

Contact us
If you or your school would like more information or to book one of our activities, our contact information is here. We will then contact you to discuss your requirements in more detail.

IMAGE CREDITS:
Magnetic Field apparatus: MIT TEAL/Studio Physics Project

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