Edition of the Scientific Letters and Papers of James Clerk Maxwell

对物理科学统一性的探索至少可以追溯到科学革命时期。当代高能物理学的一个主要目标是实现万有力大统一理论（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17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（James Clerk Maxwell）在19世纪后半叶将电、磁和光统一为一套电磁定律；最后是20世纪初的阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦，他在他的广义相对论中将引力与电和磁统一起来。在这三个人中，麦克斯韦可能是最不为人所知的，尽管他是19世纪最重要的物理学家。他的工作不仅对理解物理学中统一理论的发展，而且对理解科学中理论建构的方法具有重要意义。哈曼教授计划出版麦克斯韦的三卷本科学手稿和信件，这将极大地有助于理解麦克斯韦思想的发展。他的工作在建立场概念和物理过程的统计理论方面具有开创性，这些工作是现代物理学的基础。在这笔资助下，哈曼教授将为该版本第二卷的编辑评论进行研究，时间跨度为1862-73年。这一时期的手稿论文详细而复杂，为麦克斯韦在物理学方面的主要成就提供了重要的启示，最终成就了他的开创性作品《论电与磁》。该版本的目的是文本的准确性和完整性，在信件和文件的复制，和文本注释和介绍卷将强调文件的历史背景，以及提供文本分析。麦克斯韦的科学信件和论文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。

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.