Analogies in the Formulation of Maxwell’s Electromagnetic Theory of Light

This article focuses on the two first James Clerk Maxwell papers on magnetic lines of force. What took Maxwell to write about this issue, and how did the technological circumstances of his time influence him? And, over all, how did he manage to understand, through the use of mechanical analogies, th...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Cachón Guillén, Vladimir
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:México
Institución:INSTITUTO TECNOLÓGICO Y DE ESTUDIOS SUPERIORES DE MONTERREY
Repositorio:En-claves del pensamiento
Idioma:español
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.enclavesdelpensamiento.mx:article/26
Acceso en línea:https://www.enclavesdelpensamiento.mx/index.php/enclaves/article/view/26
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:líneas de fuerza
campo electromagnético
telegrafía submarina
Maxwell
Thompson
Faraday
Lines of force
electromagnetic field
submarine telegraphy
Descripción
Sumario:This article focuses on the two first James Clerk Maxwell papers on magnetic lines of force. What took Maxwell to write about this issue, and how did the technological circumstances of his time influence him? And, over all, how did he manage to understand, through the use of mechanical analogies, the nature of electromagnetic fields and manage to build a unified theory of magnetism, electricity and light? It is explored the creative process of Maxwell’s mind, and then,it is attempted to infer some useful conclusions about the way science is done.