Maxwell
Melvyn Bragg and guests discusses the life and ideas of James Clerk Maxwell whose work is not widely known, but whose genius and contribution to the age in which we live is enormous.He took the first colour photograph, defined the nature of gases and with a few mathematical equations expressed all the fundamental laws of light, electricity and magnetism - and in doing so he provided the tools to create the technological age, from radar to radio and televisions to mobile phones. He is credited with fundamentally changing our view of reality, so much so that Albert Einstein said, “One scientific epoch ended and another began with James Clerk Maxwell”. But who was James Clerk Maxwell? What were his ideas, and does this nineteenth century ‘natural philosopher’ deserve a place alongside Newton and Einstein in the pantheon of science?
Guests
- Simon Schaffer
24 episodes
Reader in History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge -
Peter Harman No other episodes
Professor of the History of Science at Lancaster University - Joanna Haigh
2 episodes
Professor of Atmospheric Physics at Imperial College London
Related episodes
-
The Invention of Radio
4 Jul, 2013 620 Engineering -
Albert Einstein
14 Sep, 2023 500 Science -
Michael Faraday
24 Dec, 2015 530 Physics -
Paul Dirac
5 Mar, 2020 530 Physics -
Thomas Edison
9 Dec, 2010 600 Technology -
Carl Friedrich Gauss
30 Apr, 2020 510 Mathematics -
Relativity
6 Jun, 2013 530 Physics -
Robert Boyle
12 Jun, 2014 540 Chemistry -
Radiation
12 Nov, 2009 530 Physics -
Johannes Kepler
29 Dec, 2016 520 Astronomy -
Laws of Nature
19 Oct, 2000 500 Science -
The Photon
12 Feb, 2015 530 Physics -
Electrickery
4 Nov, 2004 500 Science -
Bishop Berkeley
20 Mar, 2014 100 Philosophy -
Bergson and Time
9 May, 2019 110 Metaphysics -
Grand Unified Theory
24 Feb, 2000 530 Physics -
The Invention of Photography
-
Conductors and Semiconductors
23 Feb, 2012 530 Physics -
Benjamin Franklin
1 Mar, 2012 970 History of North America -
Emmy Noether
24 Jan, 2019 510 Mathematics
Programme ID: p005491g
Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/p005491g
Auto-category: 530.092 (Maxwell, James Clerk, 1831-1879)