Edition of the Scientific Letters and Papers of James Clerk Maxwell

詹姆斯·克拉克·麦克斯韦的科学信件和论文版

• 批准号: 8701973
• 负责人: Peter Harman
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Cambridge University Press
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1988
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1988-09-01 至 1991-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8701973&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Edition; Scientific; Letters; Papers; James

The search for unity in the physical sciences goes back at least to the time of the Scientific Revolution. A major goal of contemporary high energy physics is to achieve a grand unification theory of all forces (GUTS). In this period, there were three physicists who made the most significant contributions in this grand quest: Isaac Newton who, in the 17th century, unified both terrestrial and celestial gravity in his law of universal gravitation; James Clerk Maxwell in the latter part of the 19th century who unified electricity, magnetism and light in a single set of electromagnetic laws; and finally Albert Einstein in the first part of the 20th century who unified gravity with electricity and magnetism in his General Theory of Relativity. Of these three, Maxwell is perhaps the least well known even though he was the foremost physicist of the 19th century. His work is important not only for an understanding of the development of unification theories in physics but also for understanding the methods of theory construction in science. Professor Harman's project to publish in three volumes Maxwell's scientific manuscripts and letters will enormously contribute to the understanding of the development of Maxwell's ideas. His work was seminal in establishing the field concept and the statistical theory of physical processes, work that is fundamental to modern physics. Under this grant, Prof. Harman will undertake the research for the editorial commentary for Volume II of the edition, spanning the years 1862-73. The manuscript papers of this period are detailed and complex, and shed important light on Maxwell's major achievements in physics, culminating in his seminal work, "A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism." The edition aims at textual accuracy and completeness in the reproduction of the letters and papers, and the textual notes and introduction to the volume will emphasize the historical context of the documents as well as providing textual analysis. The publication of Maxwell's scientific letters and manuscript papers will significantly deepen our understanding of one of the most important figures in the history of science.

对物理科学统一性的探索至少可以追溯到科学革命时期。当代高能物理的一个主要目标是实现所有力的大统一理论（GUTS）。在这一时期，有三位物理学家在这一伟大的探索中做出了最重要的贡献：艾萨克·牛顿，他在世纪将地球引力和天体引力统一在他的万有引力定律中;詹姆斯·克拉克·麦克斯韦，他在世纪后期将电、磁和光统一在一套电磁定律中;最后是世纪上半叶的阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦，他在他的广义相对论中统一了引力、电和磁。在这三位物理学家中，麦克斯韦也许是最不为人所知的，尽管他是19世纪世纪最重要的物理学家。他的工作是重要的，不仅为了解发展的统一理论在物理学，而且为了解方法的理论建设在科学。教授哈曼的项目出版三卷麦克斯韦的科学手稿和信件将极大地有助于了解发展的麦克斯韦的想法。他的工作是开创性的建立场的概念和统计理论的物理过程，工作是根本的现代物理学。根据这笔赠款，哈曼教授将承担该版本第二卷的编辑评论的研究，跨越1862-73年。这一时期的手稿详细而复杂，为麦克斯韦在物理学方面的主要成就提供了重要的线索，最终在他的开创性著作《电磁学入门》中达到顶峰。他说：“该版本旨在确保书信及文件的文字准确及完整，而该卷的文字注释及引言将强调文件的历史背景及提供文字分析。麦克斯韦的科学信件和手稿的出版将大大加深我们对科学史上最重要的人物之一的理解。