NT2574 : Statue of James Clerk Maxwell, Edinburgh
taken 13 years ago, near to Edinburgh, Scotland

Maxwell is shown holding his ‘colour top’, a spinning disc with sectors of coloured paper which he used to investigate the physiology of colour vision published in 1855. His pioneering work in colour led to him demonstrating the world’s first colour photograph in 1861.
His greatest legacy is his synthesis of electricity and magnetism, showing that the two are inextricably linked, leading to the concepts of electromagnetic waves that are now the basis for all radio communication, all optics and is one of the cornerstones of special relativity.
A small plaque on the E side of the plinth reproduces the four Maxwell Equations of electromagnetism.
Maxwell (1831 – 1879) was born in Edinburgh, at 14 India Street, but spent his early years at Glenlair NX7572 : Glenlair House, the family estate in Galloway; his uncle was Sir George Clerk, baronet, of Penicuik House NT2159 : Penicuik House Project.
Maxwell’s work covered a wide area of physics, including the dynamics of Saturn’s rings and significant advances in the theory of heat and thermodynamics. In 1861 he showed the world’s first colour photograph at the Royal Institution.
His greatest scientific achievement lay in the synthesis of electricity and magnetism, showing the possibility of electromagnetic waves, of which light was the prime example. The celebrated Maxwell Equations encapsulate all electromagnetic phenomena in a few lines.
For a biography, see ‘The Man Who Changed Everything’ by Basil Mahon, Wiley 2003.