DocumentCode
1686725
Title
Maxwell, Hertz, the Maxwellians and the early history of electromagnetic waves
Author
Sengupta, D.L. ; Sarkar, T.K.
Author_Institution
Dept. of Electr. Eng. & Comput. Sci., Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Volume
1
fYear
2001
Firstpage
14
Abstract
In 1864 Maxwell conjectured from his famous equations that light is a transverse electromagnetic wave. Maxwell\´s conjecture does not imply that he believed light could be generated electromagnetically; in fact, he was silent about electromagnetic waves and their generation and detection. It took almost a quarter of a century before Hertz discovered electromagnetic waves and his brilliant experiments confirmed Maxwell\´s theory. Maxwell\´s ideas and equations were expanded, modified and made understandable by the efforts of Hertz, FitzGerald, Lodge and Heaviside, the last three being referred to as the Maxwellians. It is found that historical facts do not support the views proposed by some in the past that Hertz\´s epoch making findings and contributions were "significantly influenced by the Maxwellians".
Keywords
Maxwell equations; electromagnetic waves; history; light; EM waves history; FitzGerald; Heaviside; Hertz; Lodge; Maxwell; Maxwell´s equations; Maxwell´s theory; Maxwellians; electromagnetic waves detection; electromagnetic waves generation; electromagnetic waves history; electromagnetic waves reception; electromagnetic waves transmission; light; radio; Electromagnetic fields; Electromagnetic scattering; History; Laboratories; Magnetic fields; Maxwell equations; Modems; Partial differential equations; Production;
fLanguage
English
Publisher
ieee
Conference_Titel
Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, 2001. IEEE
Conference_Location
Boston, MA, USA
Print_ISBN
0-7803-7070-8
Type
conf
DOI
10.1109/APS.2001.958782
Filename
958782
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