Maxwell´s grand unification

The development of James Clerk Maxwell´s theories on electromagnetism is briefly sketched. By showing that the science of light and optics is merely a branch of electromagnetism, Maxwell achieved the second great unification in physics (the first being Newton´s unification of terrestrial and celestial mechanics). The correctness of Maxwell´s theory was established only in 1887, eight years after his death, when the Heinrich Hertz discovered electromagnetic radiation at microwave frequencies, as predicted by Maxwell.<>