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On Physical Lines of Force
In four instalments between March 1861 and February 1862, James Clerk Maxwell filled space with spinning cells and little rolling particles, to explain what a magnetic field actually is. The machine was wrong. On the way to building it he wrote down the displacement current, derived the speed of light from two electrical measurements that had nothing to do with optics, and founded field theory.
A 65-page reading edition: Maxwell's argument in his own order and register, the modern equations derived from his results, and a plain-language explainer for every major idea.
- Start reading →
- Introduction — the story, and why the paper matters
- The explainers — plain language, no mathematics
- The missing term — the one addition that made radio possible
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