History 181B - Class 7

History 181B: Modern Physics

Class 7 (2/5/03)
Making sense of Maxwell

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Outline

The electromagnetic-luminiferous aether: Maxwell's new analogy (1861-62)

Maxwell's theory
    What is an EM wave?
    The Treatise
        Rewriting electrodynamics as rational mechanics
        Energy physics

Making sense of Maxwell
    German traditions in electromagnetism
    Hertz's experiment
    The trouble: charge and current
    Reformulating Maxwell's theory

Names and terms

Primary	Secondary
James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) "On Physical Lines of Force" (1861-1862) electric field E, magnetic field B Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism (1873) Maxwell's theory electrodynamics Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894) Wilhelm Weber (1804-1891) Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894) (electric) charges, (electric) currents "Maxwell's theory is Maxwell's system of equations"	epiphenomenon displacement (D) displacement current J_d ~ dE/dt

Assignment

Pierre Duhem, selection from The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory (1906), trans. Philip P. Wiener (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982), 80-86.

    What was Duhem objecting to?
    What would he tell physicists to do instead?
    Extra, if you know something about thermodynamics, philosophy, or history of science: What is Duhem known for in any of these fields?