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Inspiration: (Updated: 28 Nov. 2001).
38-9 Maxwell's Equations
Equation 38-21 completes our presentation of the basic equations of elec-
tromagnetism, called Maxwell's equations. They are summarized in Table
38-3. All equations of physics that serve, as these do, to correlate experi-
ments in a vast area and to predict new results have a certain beauty about
them and can be appreciated, by thoses who understand them, on an aesthetic
level. This is true for Newton's laws of motion, for the laws of thermody-
namics, for the theory of relativity, and for the theories of quantum physics.
As for Maxwell's equations, the German physicist Ludwig Boltzmann (quot-
ing a line from Goethe) wrote "Was it a god who wrote these lines. . . ." In
more recent times J. R. Pierce *, in a book chapter entitled "Maxwell's Won-
derful Equations" says: "To anyone who is motivated by anything beyond
the most narrowly practical, it is worth while to understand Maxwell's equa-
tions simply for the good of his soul." The scope of these equations is re-
markable, including as it does the fundamental operating principles of all
large-scale electromagnetic devices such as motors, cyclotrons, electronic
computers, televisions, and microwave radar.
From: "Physics" by David Halliday and Robert Resnick,
© 1960,1962 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
