Panel stitched by:
The Gladsmuir Group
Patricia Coupe
Pru Irvine
Susanne Lowe
Celia Williams
Stitched in:
Gladsmuir, West Garleton, Pencaitland, Pathhead
Born in Edinburgh in 1831, this brilliant but sometimes underestimated scientist brought a series of equations, experiments and observations about electricity, optics and magnetism together into a consistent theory. He argued convincingly that all three phenomena are manifestations of the electromagnetic field. In 1865, Maxwell showed that electrical and magnetic fields move through space as waves that travel at the speed of light. At the age of only 25, he was appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy at Aberdeen University. The Adams Prize, given by St John’s College, Cambridge, chose as its topic the apparent stability of the rings around Saturn. Maxwell postulated that they were composed of small particles, each of which independently orbited the planet. Not only did he win the prize but, in 1980, the Voyager space exploration programme proved him right. Interested in optics and the study of colour vision, Maxwell’s research made colour photography possible. Despite his pioneering work across many fields of science, James Clerk Maxwell seems not to have taken himself too seriously. Based on the song ‘Comin’ Through the Rye’ by Robert Burns, he composed his own version to reflect his interest in physics:
Gin a body meet a body
Flyin’ through the air.
Gin a body hit a body,
Will it fly? And where?
Maxwell sadly died young of cancer at the age of 48 but his contribution to modern scientific thought was immense.
Panel stitched by:
The Gladsmuir Group
Patricia Coupe
Pru Irvine
Susanne Lowe
Celia Williams
Stitched in:
Gladsmuir, West Garleton, Pencaitland, Pathhead