James Clerk Maxwell - A Sense of Wonder - Documentary

2015 marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of one of the greatest scientific papers of all time, in which James Clerk Maxwell described his transformative theory of electromagnetism. This 28-minute film celebrates his life, his poetry, his creative genius as a mathematician and scientist and his love of Galloway, told through the journey of poet and writer Rab Wilson and featuring conversations with contemporary scientists, music, poetry and songs.

This film was produced with support from the James Clerk Maxwell Foundation and the Dr David Summers Charitable Trust. Commissioned by Wigtown Festival Company.

[varun]

One scientific epoch ended and another began with James Clerk Maxwell
- Albert Einstein

[jennypeacock]

James Maxwell, one of the greatest physicist of all time, set possibly the most well known scientist (Albert Einstein) up in his work and is the base of his success. Though if you ask the general public as they have done at the start of the film, and you say, 'Who is James Clerk Maxwell?' If they are not consumed in the amazing subject of Science I guarantee they will reply 'Who?'. Anyway thanks to the 2% that read this and have a great day or night.

[portagepete]

One person looks at this video every 20 minutes for the last 7.5 years that's extra well deserved recognition Thank you for the video.

[michaelogden]

I'm a 70 year-old science nerd. I cannot recall ever hearing the name until I started watching YouTube videos covering various aspects of physics - and that's only been in the last couple of decades or so. In my opinion, his name should as much of a household name as Einstein.

[berniv]

As a Scot I am glad to see James Clerk Maxwell getting the recognition that he deserves. Thank you for the video.🌱

[Rayquesto]

From a structural engineering perspective, Maxwell is my favorite innovator and physicist. His work involved in indeterminate structures and graphical methods to structures is probably the most overlooked thing.

[brassj]

I am shocked that a lot of people in Scotland haven't heard of Maxwell. His laws were a revelation and his work had a profound influence on Einstein. Many of the discoveries that Michael Faraday made he couldn't explain and turned to Maxwell to come up with a theory that explained electro-magnetism. He explained how electro-magnetic waves propagated through the ether.
Good documentary!

[alanlockhart]

Maxwell created our modern world, without him we would have virtually nothing you can see and touch right now in front of your eyes.

[SC-bgwf]

The guy on the street usually knows nothing of Maxwell, but everyone involved in physics knows of his amazing work.

[johnnybravo]

Although general public does not know about Maxwell among the scientists as well as many branches of engineering the dude is quite well known and is considered a legend. Similar ones that are forgotten by the general population are Euler and Gauss - two legends of maths (and bit of physics).

[robertbrown]

What they didn't say was Maxwell's electromagnetic theory wasn't widely accepted during his lifetime. He never lived to see his work fully proven experimentally. Such is often the case with such people that by their greatness are ahead of their time.

[jonathanland]

Einstein had a picture of one man on the wall of his office - it was James Clerk Maxwell.

[saulorocha]

Excellent short documentary on Maxwell. Something very rare.

[giuseppevianello]

The four most beautiful equations of physics!

[heikotimmers]

A wonderful acknowledgement of Maxwell's achievements in their Scottish setting that brings out the intellectual broadness of mind and the delicate senses required in order to step beyond the known.

[foch]

This guy blew me away! I've thought about him many times since learning of him. Thank you Scottish people.

[brassj]

Another great British scientist that most people haven't heard of is Paul Dirac.
He was a revolutionary and his equations led to the discovery of anti-mattter which has led to practical technology like the PET scanner which detects Positrons, the anti-matter equivalent of electrons

[raymond]

Nobody could understand him, so they concentrated on just a few pages of his research to create the world we live in today.
Imagine how advanced the world would be if he was fully understood.
What a legend.

[nikotsiopinis]

Another feature of Maxwell's intellect is the lucidity of his thought which one can immediately see present in his writings. I guess this may be one of the defining characteristic of a genius.
The rhyming found in his writings are more pronounced in his teaching material which he prepared for his students. It was a unique way he used to facilitate learning by using the technique of rhyming. It is known he had noticed that his students had difficulty grasping the notions of physics. Oftentimes he was exasperated, so I believe, rhyming was his own unique way to facilitate his students' remember the material he taught. Today, this method would be considered within the purview of instructional modification of teaching material. I don't believe that Maxwell himself would have said, if he had been asked that what he was writing at those times was poetry!

[otiebrown]

It was FARADAY, to Maxwell.
Both incredible people.