Edition of the Scientific Letters and Papers of James Clerk Maxwell

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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.