This is a review of the biographical account of James Clerk Maxwell by his long time friend, Lewis Campbell.
Very few men achieve the range of things that Maxwell did in his short life. He died at merely forty eight years of age, from the same cancer that took his mother(at exactly the same age).
The book is pretty disordered(unedited?) from today's standards. Many letters(to and from Maxwell) are interspersed with the text that narrates his life. It made a very poor reading experience, as you lost the train of thought to examine the contents of the letter. Maybe the author tried to preserve the memory of Maxwell in pristine form. Perhaps, he thought the letters would give a true window of the inner workings of Maxwell's mind.
Regardless of the setup of the book, it does true justice by recording very minute details of Maxwell's life. We see a boy of eight, asking endless questions. We see his playfulness in the natural surroundings of Glenlair where he grew up. We see an amazing father-son relationship - where the duo fuelled each other's curiosity. We see his talents surfacing, as he rediscovers Descartes' curves around the age of fourteen. His talents growing steadily as he passed through school and college. His letters which showed the diverse topics on which he liked to meditate.
Another point of interest was Maxwell's religiosity. He was a devout Christian. He enjoyed taking part in theological discussions and kept a religious outlook in friendship as well as marriage. It might seem very strange that a scientist of such calibre is also capable of keeping faith.
Time and again, the letters and the author also show that Maxwell was a very kind man. He used his library card to lend numerous books to his students(owing to the guilt that he was not a good lecturer). Even in the extreme pain of his last illness, he worried endlessly about his wife's welfare. Friends, colleagues and family members remember that Maxwell went out of his way to not hurt others.
Another deficit of the book seems the lack of methodical treatment of Maxwell's scientific achievements. Letters don't give a good idea because of obscure terminologies and the difference in understanding between the two people who were communicating. I hope someone would do the necessary research for scientific biography of Maxwell, as Maxwell did for Henry Cavendish in his later years.
Certainly as a mere beginner in science, I might not realise the full scope of Maxwell's work - from statistical mechanics to colour theory to electromagnetism. I might also like the book better, if I re-read it in the coming years.
I give three and a half stars out of five to the book. Highly recommended for those who like to understand the blossoming of scientific ideas along the arrow of time.
Very few men achieve the range of things that Maxwell did in his short life. He died at merely forty eight years of age, from the same cancer that took his mother(at exactly the same age).
The book is pretty disordered(unedited?) from today's standards. Many letters(to and from Maxwell) are interspersed with the text that narrates his life. It made a very poor reading experience, as you lost the train of thought to examine the contents of the letter. Maybe the author tried to preserve the memory of Maxwell in pristine form. Perhaps, he thought the letters would give a true window of the inner workings of Maxwell's mind.
Regardless of the setup of the book, it does true justice by recording very minute details of Maxwell's life. We see a boy of eight, asking endless questions. We see his playfulness in the natural surroundings of Glenlair where he grew up. We see an amazing father-son relationship - where the duo fuelled each other's curiosity. We see his talents surfacing, as he rediscovers Descartes' curves around the age of fourteen. His talents growing steadily as he passed through school and college. His letters which showed the diverse topics on which he liked to meditate.
Another point of interest was Maxwell's religiosity. He was a devout Christian. He enjoyed taking part in theological discussions and kept a religious outlook in friendship as well as marriage. It might seem very strange that a scientist of such calibre is also capable of keeping faith.
Time and again, the letters and the author also show that Maxwell was a very kind man. He used his library card to lend numerous books to his students(owing to the guilt that he was not a good lecturer). Even in the extreme pain of his last illness, he worried endlessly about his wife's welfare. Friends, colleagues and family members remember that Maxwell went out of his way to not hurt others.
Another deficit of the book seems the lack of methodical treatment of Maxwell's scientific achievements. Letters don't give a good idea because of obscure terminologies and the difference in understanding between the two people who were communicating. I hope someone would do the necessary research for scientific biography of Maxwell, as Maxwell did for Henry Cavendish in his later years.
Certainly as a mere beginner in science, I might not realise the full scope of Maxwell's work - from statistical mechanics to colour theory to electromagnetism. I might also like the book better, if I re-read it in the coming years.
I give three and a half stars out of five to the book. Highly recommended for those who like to understand the blossoming of scientific ideas along the arrow of time.
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