James Clerk Maxwell - Lessons of a Well Lived Life

You know the name of Isaac Newton.  You know the name of Albert Einstein and a few quotes that are misattributed to him.  Unless you have studied physics, you probably do not know the name of James Clerk Maxwell.  Yet, without him, you would not be using an electromagnetic device today or have a color television.  And all of this from a man who died at the age of 48. In the words of British mathematician and chemist, C.A. Coulson, "There is scarcely a single topic that he touched upon which he did not change almost beyond recognition."  In the biography The Man Who Changed Everything: The Life of James Clerk Maxwell, I found more than a brilliant scientist.  I found a three-dimensional human from whom we can all learn.

Curiosity - All children ask a lot of questions.  Why is the sky blue?  Where does the sun go at night? Young James was curious from the start as well, asking questions like "What is the go of that?" and "How do you know it's blue?"  His parents encouraged these questions, even when they didn't know the answers.  They never told him that he didn't need to know something because he wouldn't "use it later in life."  I have often told students about the study that shows the average four-year-old asks 300 questions per day, and I always tell them.  Those of us who never stopped doing that became science teachers.  Maxwell exemplified this in his life.  He read broad categories of literature, explored historical connections, was deeply religious, and pioneered methods of experimentation at a time when that was looked down upon by theorists as less scientific.  His parents wanted him to pursue a "real profession" like law, but the only parts of his law classes that interested him were the philosophy portions, likely because they explored the universal questions for which he wanted answers.  When Maxwell began his career, science was "thought of as interesting but not particularly useful and a splendid hobby for a gentleman but a poor profession."  By the time of his death, he had helped turn it into a respected field.

Growth Mindset - James' educational career started out a little rough.  They started him with a tutor, who was too young for the job, felt the need to exert extreme authority, and had no patience for young James' questions.  It came to a head when the boy jumped into a washtub and rowed himself out into the middle of a pond just to get away from his awful tutor.  His parents gave up on the idea of private tutoring and sent him to school, but they dressed him weirdly on the first day, and he paid a social price for it.  Despite this (and with the help of an aunt who gave him some better clothes), he kept working and eventually found a small group of like-minded friends.  He developed a reputation for kindness, and he eventually overcame his social stumbles.  When he was given the chance to choose his classes, he found a teacher that formed his view of study for the rest of his life.  "He had found someone who did not shirk from answering his awkward questions, and he was delighted to find that the answers sometimes came in the form of yet deeper questions."  When he discovered the work of Descartes, he loved his work so much that he considered him a friend.  He felt that "he appreciated their struggles, knowing that most discoveries come only after a period of stumbling and fumbling." While James understood concepts deeply, he often struggled with basic mathematical processes, and many of his errors were published.  One of his colleagues, Gustav Kirchoff, said, "He is a genius, but one has to check his calculations."  He was constantly looking for a better analogy or way to model a complex idea.  He is probably best known in physics for his system of equations that show the relationships in electromagnetic dynamics.  Those equations are admired for their simplicity, but finding them was anything but simple.  We like to think of genius as having sudden flashes of insight, but "His system of equations worked with jeweled precision.  Its construction had been an immense feat of sustained creative effort in three stages spread over nine years."

Faith - John and Frances Clerk Maxwell raised their son in two churches as he was Presbyterian and she was Episcopal.  He not only learned the doctrines, but he deeply felt them and loved the Creator.  When he moved from Cambridge to Trinity College, much was being made of whether science and religion were in contradiction, with some on both sides finding them incompatible, but there were some, like James, who found them complementary.  "His faith was too deeply rooted to be shaken, but his probing mind would not allow any possible fissures between God and science to remain unexplored."  This resulted in both deeper faith and better science.  He understood that his mind and the ability to pursue education and science was a blessing from God, and he responded by offering public lectures so that tradesmen might also have access to this blessing.  

Learner and Teacher - While James was a sought-after teacher, he never stopped being a learner.  He built upon the work of Michael Farraday, who had himself been a student of Sir Humphrey Davy.  While their work complemented those before, they also explored their fields in new ways.  In the last few years of his career, he was offered the opportunity to design and build a school.  In spite of the fact that the prevailing scientific view looked down on lab work, James insisted on balancing known theory with experimental research and invested heavily in a lab.  He wanted his students to explore new ideas, not just learn about his.  "It was a rule with him never to dissuade a man from trying an experiment, no matter how slim the prospect of success, because he might find something entirely unexpected."  

Legacy - Many scientists get hyper-focused on one thing, and while they may make a breakthrough in that one area, they don't often contribute to the larger world of science.  Perhaps because of his faith, James Clerk Maxwell seemed to understand that science was about more than answering his questions, but it was about revealing the nature of things for the good of all.  Among his poetry and journals was found this statement, "Happy is the man who can recognize in his work of Today a connected portion of the work of life, and an embodiment of the work of Eternity."  The way he approached his classes was to encourage them to learn to think and thereby explore beyond what he was teaching them was rooted in this perspective.  Because of this, "James' personal influence in Cambridge spread far beyond his own department.  Many mathematicians made use of his ideas and suggestions in their own work.  People who were at first hostile to the new laboratory, with its emphasis on combining theory with practical work, were, in time, completely disarmed by his unaffected charm and patient generosity of spirit.  Science at Cambridge entered a new age."

We may never reach the level of achievement that Maxwell did, but if we live lives of curiosity, growth, faith, learning and teaching, we can have a legacy that last after our careers are over.