225px james clerk maxwell

James Clerk Maxwell

By Mya's Awesome!!

  • 1831

    Novem 3, 1831 he was born at 14 India Street, Edinburgh to John Clerk, an advocate, and Frances Cay

  • 1834

    In a passage added to a letter from his father to his sister-in-law Jane Cay in 1834, his mother described this innate sense of inquisitiveness

  • 1839

    1839
    She was however taken ill with abdominal cancer, and after an unsuccessful operation, died in December 1839 when Maxwell was only eight.

  • 1841

    John Maxwell dismissed the tutor in November 1841, and after considerable thought, sent James to the prestigious Edinburgh Academy

  • 1847

    1847
    Maxwell left the Academy in 1847 at the age of 16 and began attending classes at the University of Edinburgh.

  • 1850

    1850
    In October 1850, already an accomplished mathematician, Maxwell left Scotland for Cambridge University

  • 1851

    1851
    In November 1851, Maxwell studied under William Hopkins, whose success in nurturing mathematical genius had earned him the nickname of "senior wrangler-maker".

  • 1861

    Maxwell is known for presenting the first durable colour photograph in 1861 and for his foundational work on the rigidity of rod and joint frame works like those in many bridges.

  • 1865

    He published "A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic field."

  • 1879

    1879
    He died in Cambridge of abdominal cancer on 5 November 1879 at the age of 48.