ZPEnergy.com - A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field by J.C.Maxwell

Thanks to David Tombe’s (FDT) personal efforts, we are now in the possession of Maxwell’s 1864 seminal paper “A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field”. David obtained a photocopy of this paper from the James Clerk-Maxwell foundation in Edinburgh, made a very good quality scan and converted it into a series of pdf files such that it would be easier to download (total size of these files: ~ 19 MB).

He also provided an additional page photocopied from the Maxwell article in 'The dictionary of Scientific Biography'. This photocopy shows a diagram of the mechanical device which simulates the magnetic field, and of which its theory is described in the 1864 paper.

All these seven files are now available in our Downloads section for all those interested to study Maxwell’s 1864 paper. The links are provided below (right click and Save Link As). Thank you David.

Maxwell_1864_1.pdf
Maxwell_1864_2.pdf
Maxwell_1864_3.pdf
Maxwell_1864_4.pdf
Maxwell_1864_5.pdf
Maxwell_1864_6.pdf
Maxwell_1864_Diagram.pdf

David mentioned to me that he also wrote to the Clerk-Maxwell Foundation in Edinburgh and suggested to Prof. Ritchie that “perhaps they should invest in getting good pdf web links made of all Maxwell's work, because it’s the only way that a wider circulation of Maxwell's work will ever come about.” An earlier correspondence explains Dave’s interest in Maxwell’s work (quote):

“Basically I want to once and for all elucidate the thorny issue of Maxwell's displacement current. There can be few teasers in physics on a par with Maxwell's displacement current. I've just spent the winter thoroughly studying Maxwell's 1861 paper, but it's 24 years since I last looked at Maxwell's 1864 paper. I intend to do an interpretation paper on the 1864 paper, some time in the next few months. I already have about 90% of it in my head, but I want to read the 1864 paper thoroughly so that I don't miss out on the fine details, the quotes, and the negative signs etc.

I'm also trying to get Lord Kelvin's 1847 paper, ie. the one that Maxwell mentions early on in his 1861 paper. (Prof. William Thomson, "A mechanical representation of Electric, Magnetic, and Galvanic Forces, January 1847, Cambridge and Dublin Mathematical Journal). Other papers well worth looking at would be Newton's Principia and also Wilhelm Eduard Weber's electro-dynamical papers.”