PHYSICIST

James Clerk Maxwell

1831 - 1879

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James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish physicist with broad interests who was responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and light as different manifestations of the same phenomenon. Maxwell's equations for electromagnetism have been called the "second great unification in physics" where the first one had been realised by Isaac Newton. With the publication of "A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field" in 1865, Maxwell demonstrated that electric and magnetic fields travel through space as waves moving at the speed of light. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of James Clerk Maxwell has received more than 4,960,013 page views. His biography is available in 128 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 124 in 2019). James Clerk Maxwell is the 25th most popular physicist (down from 16th in 2019), the 70th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 43rd in 2019) and the 6th most popular British Physicist.

James Clerk Maxwell was a Scottish physicist, mathematician, and astronomer. He is most famous for his work on electromagnetism.

Memorability Metrics

  • 5.0M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 76.55

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 128

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 8.58

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 6.01

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of James Clerk Maxwells by language

Over the past year James Clerk Maxwell has had the most page views in the with 801,242 views, followed by Spanish (180,161), and Russian (87,530). In terms of yearly growth of page views the top 3 wikpedia editions are Southern Azerbaijani (448.87%), Chechen (196.71%), and Korean (70.45%)

Among PHYSICISTS

Among physicists, James Clerk Maxwell ranks 25 out of 851. Before him are Enrico Fermi, André-Marie Ampère, Erwin Schrödinger, Georg Ohm, Christiaan Huygens, and Charles-Augustin de Coulomb. After him are Edward Teller, Heinrich Hertz, Hendrik Lorentz, Daniel Bernoulli, Ibn al-Haytham, and Luigi Galvani.

Most Popular Physicists in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1831, James Clerk Maxwell ranks 1. After him are Frederick III, German Emperor, Helena Blavatsky, Sitting Bull, James A. Garfield, Emperor Kōmei, John Stith Pemberton, Xianfeng Emperor, Richard Dedekind, Cheoljong of Joseon, Savitribai Phule, and Leo von Caprivi. Among people deceased in 1879, James Clerk Maxwell ranks 1. After him are Bernadette Soubirous, Honoré Daumier, Napoléon, Prince Imperial, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, Adolf Anderssen, Albrecht von Roon, Gottfried Semper, Thomas Couture, Julia Margaret Cameron, August Grisebach, and Charles De Coster.

Others Born in 1831

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Others Deceased in 1879

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, James Clerk Maxwell ranks 70 out of 8,785. Before him are Charles, Prince of Wales (1948), Harold Harefoot (1016), Thomas Robert Malthus (1766), Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell (1857), John Stuart Mill (1806), and Alex Ferguson (1941). After him are Edward Heath (1916), Ridley Scott (1937), John Dee (1527), George III of the United Kingdom (1738), David Bowie (1947), and Charlotte Brontë (1816).

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Among PHYSICISTS In United Kingdom

Among physicists born in United Kingdom, James Clerk Maxwell ranks 6. Before him are Isaac Newton (1643), Stephen Hawking (1942), Michael Faraday (1791), James Prescott Joule (1818), and Robert Hooke (1635). After him are Paul Dirac (1902), J. J. Thomson (1856), William Gilbert (1544), William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824), Thomas Young (1773), and James Chadwick (1891).

British born Physicists

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