This is a comprehensive edition of Maxwell's manuscript papers published virtually complete and largely for the first time.

This is a comprehensive edition of Maxwell's manuscript papers published virtually complete and largely for the first time. Maxwell's work was of central importance in establishing and developing the major themes of the physics of the nineteenth century: his theory of the electromagnetic field and the electromagnetic theory of light and his special place in the history of physics. His fecundity of imagination and the sophistication of his examination of the foundations of physics give particular interest and importance to his writings. Volume I: 1846-1862 documents Maxwell's education and early scientific work and his major period of scientific innovation - his first formulation of field theory, the electromagnetic theory of light and the statistical theory of gases. Important letters and manuscript drafts illuminate this fundamental early work and the volume includes his letters to friends and family, general essays and lectures and juvenilia.

Volume II: 1862-1873 contains texts which illuminate Maxwell's scientific maturity. In this period he wrote the classic works on field physics and statistical molecular theory which established his unique status in the history of science. His important correspondence with Thomson and Tait provides remarkable insight into the major themes of his physics.