| 1831 | Born at 14 India Street, Edinburgh, 13 June. Grew up at Glenlair |
| 1839 | His mother, Frances, died |
| 1841 | Started school, Edinburgh Academy |
| 1846 | Published his first paper, on oval curves |
| 1847 | Started at University of Edinburgh |
| 1848 | Published paper On Rolling Curves |
| 1850 | Published paper On the Equilibrium of Elastic Solids Started at Cambridge University, Peterhouse for one term, then Trinity |
| 1854 | Finished undergraduate studies at Cambridge: second wrangler, joint winner of Smith’s Prize: started post-graduate work |
| 1855 | Published paper Experiments on Colour as Perceived by the Eye |
| Published first part of paper On Faraday’s Lines of Force, second part the following year Elected Fellow of Trinity |
| 1856 | His father, John, died Appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy at Marischal College, Aberdeen |
| 1858 | Awarded Adams’ Prize for essay On the Stability of the Motion of Saturn’s Rings, paper published 1859 |
| 1858 | Married Katherine Mary Dewar, daughter of Principal of Marischal College |
| 1860 | Published papers Illustrations of the Dynamical Theory of Gases and On the Theory of Compound Colours and the Relations of the Colours of the Spectrum |
| Made redundant from Marischal College Failed in application for Chair of Natural Philosophy at University of Edinburgh |
| Severely ill from smallpox |
| Appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy at King’s College, London |
| Awarded Rumford Medal by the Royal Society of London for his work on colour vision |
| 1861 | Produced world’s first colour photograph Published first two parts of paper On Physical Lines of Force, the remaining two parts the following year |
| Elected FRS |
| 1863 | Published recommendations on electrical units and results of experiment to produce a standard of electrical resistance in his Committee’s report to the British Association for the Advancement of Science |
| 1865 | Published paper On Reciprocal Figures and Diagrams of Force Published paper A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field |
| Severely ill from infection from cut sustained in riding accident |
| Resigned chair at King’s College London; returned to live at Glenlair |
| 1866 | Published paper On the Viscosity or Internal Friction of Air and Other Gases |
| 1867 | Published paper On the Dynamical Theory of Gases Visited Italy |
| 1868 | Published paper On Governors |
| Carried out experiment to measure the ratio of the electrostatic and electromagnetic units of charge, which by his theory was equal to the speed of light |
| Applied for but failed to get post of Principal of St Andrews University |
| 1870 | Published paper On Hills and Dales Awarded Keith Medal by the Royal Society of Edinburgh for work on reciprocal diagrams for engineering structures |
| 1871 | Published book The Theory of Heat, in which he introduced Maxwell’s demon |
| Appointed Professor of Experimental Physics at Cambridge University |
| Supervised design and construction of Cavendish Laboratory building (fully operational 1874) |
| 1873 | Published book A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism |
| 1876 | Published book Matter and Motion |
| 1879 | Published paper On Boltzmann’s Theorem on the Average Distribution of a Number of Material Points |
| Published paper On Stresses in Rarefied Gases Arising from Inequalities in Temperature |
| Published book Electrical Researches of the Honourable Henry Cavendish |
| Died at Cambridge 5 November; buried at Parton |
| Note: | Maxwell published five books and about 100 papers. Those of his writings that are described in the narrative are listed here and are available, with others, under titles listed in the Bibliography. |