355:
370:. In Chapter VI, article 93, Maxwell writes "we may proceed by mathematical methods" or we may employ "the humbler method of actually drawing tentative figures on paper and selecting that which appears least unlike the figure we require." He continues, "I have therefore drawn several diagrams of systems of equipotential surfaces and lines of force, so that the student may make himself familiar with the forms of the lines." These are contained on a series of full page plates bound at the back of the book.
27:
825:
408:"Maxwell distinguishes sharply between the relations between the phenomena and the phenomena themselves". This has important consequences for Maxwell's views on scientific explanation: "it is clear that Maxwell does not take his physical analogies and fictional models to be explanatory in the straightforward sense of providing a literal mechanistic or causal explanation".
248:
dealing mathematically with the various phenomena of the science. In this smaller book I have endeavoured to present, in as compact a form as I can, those phenomena which appear to throw light on the theory of electricity, and to use them, each in its place, for the development of electrical ideas in the mind of the reader.
268:
In the larger treatise I sometimes made use of methods which I do not think the best in themselves, but without which the student cannot follow the investigations of the founders of the
Mathematical Theory of Electricity. I have since become more convinced of the superiority of methods akin to those
349:
When a mathematician engaged in physical actions and results has arrived at his conclusions, may they not be expressed in common language as fully, clearly, and definitely as in mathematical formulae? If so, would it not be a great boon to such as I to express them so?—translating them out of their
247:
The aim of the following treatise is different from that of my larger treatise on electricity and magnetism. In the larger treatise the reader is supposed to be familiar with the higher mathematical methods which are not used in this book, and his studies are so directed as to give him the power of
221:
The first eight chapters were complete at the time of
Maxwell's death, as were parts of chapters nine and ten, though materials for these chapters were found to be disordered. The first four chapters are interspersed with descriptions of eighteen experiments illustrating phenomena described. Rather
394:
speaks of tentative methods of altering known solutions of the
Laplacian equation by drawing diagrams on paper and selecting the least improbable. The object of the present thesis is to point out that this method can do far more than merely alter known results, and that it may be so far from
399:
Owing to the book's discursive style and attempt to present complex ideas in straightforward language, it has long been studied for what it reveals about
Maxwell's style of thought, in particular his use of analogies in physical explanation. Joseph Turner, for example, discussed the
164:
two years after
Maxwell died in 1879. The editor's note at the beginning of the book states that most of the book's content was written about five years prior to Maxwell's death, some of which was used in the lectures Maxwell gave on electricity to members of the
309:
offered what
Maxwell called a 'translation' of Faraday's intuitive experimental approach into a fully mathematical treatment of electrical and magnetic phenomena, specifically Faraday's '
297:'s work was foundational: as a young man, embarking on his study of electricity, Maxwell decided "to read no mathematics on the subject till I had first read through Faraday's
293:, the latter has been called "the final, unfinished expression of the understanding achieved by studying and extending Faraday’s work". Maxwell's relationship with
345:
This, according to Pesic, is an act of 'homage' to
Faraday, and a response to the letter that Faraday had written to Maxwell in 1857, in which Faraday had written:
358:
Plate II, 'Lines of force and equipotential surfaces'. A and B are opposite charges, with A being four times bigger than B. P is the point of equilibrium. AP=2AB.
569:
866:
228:
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gives it an important place in our understanding of what
Maxwell might have done with the full mathematical treatment of the second edition of
341:
was to use the most elementary mathematics possible not just to be 'easier,' but in order to emphasize how the physical had become the theory.
910:
519:
449:
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920:
460:
445:
430:
386:, for example, developed a trial and error method of solving two-dimensional flow nets, using a comment in Chapter VI:
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157:
852:
404:
in his 1955 paper 'Maxwell on the Method of
Physical Analogy'. More recently, Alisa Bukolic points out that in the
325:, Peter Pesic argues that the original editor Garnett saw the book as "an alternative to the first part" of the
905:
900:
222:
than publish the work in fragmentary form, Garnett and his collaborators decided to fill in the gaps in the
161:
103:
313:'. Maxwell's early death at the age of forty-eight interrupted his work on a revised second edition of the
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367:
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and Ψ as fundamental. That
Maxwell adopted "methods akin to those of Faraday" "from the first" in the
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780:
673:
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232:, first published in two volumes in 1873 and published in a revised version in the same year as the
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236:. Owing to the almost complete absence of text for chapters eleven through thirteen of the
662:"Maxwell, Helmholtz, and the unreasonable effectiveness of the method of physical analogy"
305:' rather than the newly coined 'scientist' or 'physicist'. Ultimately, however, Maxwell's
294:
542:(3rd ed.). Mineola, NY: Dover Publications (published 1954). pp. viii (vol. 1).
784:
711:"An extremely overdue book has been returned to a Massachusetts library 119 years later"
677:
557:. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press (published 1971). pp. 884–885 (vol. 2).
494:
434:
879:
416:
208:
Chapter X: 'Phenomena of an electric current which flows through heterogeneous media'
808:
512:
An Elementary Treatise on Electricity, with an Introduction and Notes by Peter Pesic
465:
An Elementary Treatise on Electricity, with an Introduction and Notes by Peter Pesic
570:"That Maxwell book that was returned to a library 115 years late: what's it about?"
751:
685:
412:
243:
The purpose of the book is stated in the fragmentary preface by Maxwell himself:
149:
769:"A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism An Elementary Treatise on Electricity"
595:
411:
In 2023, a copy of the book was returned to New Bedford Free Public Library in
382:
contain subtle insights, and these were recognised by his immediate followers.
661:
607:
800:
759:
638:
240:, those chapters are largely constructed from material from the larger work.
768:
145:
85:
378:
As so often with Maxwell's work, even popular presentations such as the
832:
596:"A freehand graphic way of determining stream lines and equipotentials"
289:. For this reason, and owing to the less technical presentation of the
123:
694:
646:
622:
555:
The Selected Correspondence of Michael Faraday, ed. L. Pearce Williams
792:
177:
The book contains thirteen chapters, covering the following topics:
514:(2nd ed.). Mineola, NY: Dover Publications (published 2005).
353:
395:
tentative as to yield an accuracy of one per cent of the range.
499:. University of California Libraries. Oxford, Clarendon Press.
350:
hieroglyphics that we also might work upon them by experiment.
269:
of Faraday, and have therefore adopted them from the first.
226:
by borrowing relevant sections from Maxwell's magnum opus,
217:
Chapter XIII: 'On the electric resistance of substances'
214:
Chapter XII: 'On the measurement of electric resistance'
211:
Chapter XI: 'Methods of maintaining an electric current'
840:
260:
The book is not merely a re-statement of some parts of
467:(2nd ed.). Dover Publications (published 2005).
129:
119:
109:
99:
75:
54:
46:
36:
321:. In the introduction to the Dover edition of the
184:Chapter II: 'On the charges of electrified bodies'
627:The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
196:Chapter VI: 'Particular cases of electrification'
392:Elementary Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism
193:Chapter V: 'Faraday's law of lines of induction'
493:Maxwell, James Clerk; Garnett, William (1881).
301:." Both Maxwell and Faraday styled themselves '
666:Studies in History and Philosophy of Science A
329:, but that Maxwell himself had understood the
860:
8:
187:Chapter III: 'On electrical work and energy'
19:
623:"Maxwell on the Method of Physical Analogy"
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25:
18:
693:
366:, therefore, is that it does not contain
454:(2nd ed.). Oxford, Clarendon Press.
273:This is thought to refer to the use, in
736:"An Elementary Treatise on Electricity"
540:A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism
478:
287:A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism
275:A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism
262:A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism
229:A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism
31:Title-page from the 1881 first edition
20:An Elementary Treatise on Electricity
496:An elementary treatise on electricity
451:An Elementary Treatise on Electricity
436:An Elementary Treatise on Electricity
327:Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism
315:Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism
307:Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism
141:An Elementary Treatise on Electricity
7:
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160:. The book was published in 1881 by
16:Written work by James Clerk Maxwell
839:. You can help Knowledge (XXG) by
14:
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199:Chapter VII: 'Electrical images'
190:Chapter IV: 'The electric field'
602:. 15 (series 6) (86): 237–269.
568:Nelson, Rick (15 August 2023).
419:, more than 119 years overdue.
594:Richardson, Lewis Fry (1908).
333:as an entirely different work:
205:Chapter IX: 'Electric current'
1:
767:Chrystal, G. (January 1882).
734:Maxwell, J. C. (1882-01-14).
538:Maxwell, James Clerk (1892).
510:Maxwell, James Clerk (1888).
459:Maxwell, James Clerk (1888).
444:Maxwell, James Clerk (1888).
429:Maxwell, James Clerk (1881).
911:Works by James Clerk Maxwell
752:10.1126/science.os-3.80.14-d
362:An important feature of the
144:is a posthumously published
686:10.1016/j.shpsa.2014.09.012
574:Test & Measurement Tips
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818:
439:. Oxford, Clarendon Press.
368:Maxwell's famous equations
337:Maxwell’s larger plan for
608:10.1080/14786440809463764
553:Faraday, Michael (1857).
253:Maxwell, Faraday and the
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660:Bukolich, Alisa (2015).
202:Chapter VIII: 'Capacity'
709:Leblanc, Steve (2023).
621:Turner, Joseph (1955).
299:Experimental Researches
162:Oxford University Press
104:Oxford University Press
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639:10.1093/bjps/VI.23.226
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264:. Maxwell notes that
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67:Mathematical physics
835:-related book is a
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678:2015SHPSA..50...28B
423:Publication history
406:Elementary Treatise
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