Maxwell's equations and light
James Clerk MaxwellMichael FaradayHeinrich Hertz
This page delivers no verdict; it presents claims and evidence with their sources. No theory in science is absolute. Method
For everyone
Maxwell unified electricity and magnetism in a single theory and calculated that electromagnetic waves should travel at the speed of light. From this he concluded that light is an electromagnetic wave. Hertz produced such waves experimentally in 1887–1888. This is the basis of radio, television and wireless communication.
For specialists
"A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field" (1865) gives the field equations including the displacement-current term. They yield transverse waves travelling at c = 1/√(μ₀ε₀). The modern four-vector-equation form is due to Heaviside and Gibbs. The equations are invariant under Lorentz transformations and were the starting point of special relativity.
Claims
- Light is an electromagnetic wave.[1]
Evidence
Supporting
Hertz showed that waves produced by electric circuits reflect, refract and polarise, and travel at a finite speed.[2]
Challenging
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Connections
Sources
- Article (1865). A dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 155, 459–512DOI 10.1098/rstl.1865.0008archive
- Book (1893). Electric Waves. Macmillan, London (translation of Untersuchungen über die Ausbreitung der elektrischen Kraft, 1892)
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Cite this page
Athena contributors. (2026). Maxwell's equations and light. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/maxwell/
@misc{athena_maxwell,
title = {Maxwell's equations and light},
author = {{Athena contributors}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/maxwell/}},
note = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}Added: September 27, 2026 · Last changed: September 28, 2026 · Page history