The Evolution of Maxwell's Equations

Speaker: 
Kathy Joseph
Date: 
Thursday, October 24, 2024
Time: 
3:30 pm
Location: 
ISEB 1010

Have you ever wondered what inspired Maxwell's famous equations? In this lecture physicist and historian Kathy Joseph (of "Kathy Loves Physics" YouTube fame) will use original papers and letters to trace the origins and development of these fundamental ideas. From Michael Faraday putting himself in a cage in 1837 to Richard Feynmann fundamentally changing the equations in his famous lectures in 1961, Kathy will show step-by-step how these ideas developed and changed over time. She will spell out the influence of not only Faraday and Feynman and Maxwell and Heaviside but also Coulomb, Ampere, Sturgeon, Kelvin, Hertz, Lorentz, Minkowski, Einstein and more. This is a true story about how revolutionary ideas are born.

Host: 
Daniel Whiteson