Maxwell Road

With Faraday Road to the north and east of the site of the former Electricity Power Generating Station it is no great surprise to find Maxwell Road to the south and west of it. James Clerk Maxwell is one of the greatest theoretical physicists that the world has ever known.

Born in Edinburgh in 1831, the son of a solicitor and nicknamed "Dafty" at school - on account of his gangly appearance - Maxwell was appointed professor of natural philosophy at Marischal College, Aberdeen, in 1856, King's College, London, in 1860, and in 1871, after a few years of research work at home in Scotland, he was appointed the first professor of experimental physics at Cambridge.

The kinetic theory of gases, the nature of Saturn's rings, colour photography and most importantly, electromagnetic radiation, were all subjects that Maxwell brought awareness to. Possessed of a quaint, whimsical and kindly humour, he also was a gifted writer of light verse. He died in 1879.

EH 27 April 1996