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PHYSICIST

James Clerk Maxwell

1831 - 1879

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James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and scientist 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 4,261,285 page views. His biography is available in 124 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 123 in 2019). James Clerk Maxwell is the 16th most popular physicist (down from 13th in 2019), the 43rd most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 40th 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

  • 4.3M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 79.87

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 124

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 12.91

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.67

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of James Clerk Maxwells by language


Among PHYSICISTS

Among physicists, James Clerk Maxwell ranks 16 out of 717. Before him are Pierre Curie, Hans Christian Ørsted, James Prescott Joule, André-Marie Ampère, Ernest Rutherford, and Niels Bohr. After him are Evangelista Torricelli, Georg Ohm, Werner Heisenberg, Henri Becquerel, Erwin Schrödinger, and Christiaan Huygens.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1831, James Clerk Maxwell ranks 1. After him are Frederick III, German Emperor, Sitting Bull, Helena Blavatsky, John Stith Pemberton, Emperor Kōmei, Xianfeng Emperor, James A. Garfield, Cheoljong of Joseon, Leo von Caprivi, Richard Dedekind, and Savitribai Phule. Among people deceased in 1879, James Clerk Maxwell ranks 1. After him are Bernadette Soubirous, Honoré Daumier, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, Napoléon, Prince Imperial, Adolf Anderssen, Gottfried Semper, Thomas Couture, Albrecht von Roon, Julia Margaret Cameron, Maria Teresa of Savoy, 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 43 out of 7,765. Before him are James Prescott Joule (1818), Thomas More (1478), Arthur Conan Doyle (1859), Anthony Hopkins (1937), John Lennon (1940), and Edward Jenner (1749). After him are Bertrand Russell (1872), Sean Connery (1930), Francis Drake (1540), Daniel Defoe (1660), Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (1900), and David Ricardo (1772).

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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), Robert Hooke (1635), and James Prescott Joule (1818). After him are William Gilbert (1544), Paul Dirac (1902), J. J. Thomson (1856), Thomas Young (1773), James Chadwick (1891), and Charles Thomson Rees Wilson (1869).

British born Physicists

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