Three of Maxwell's six equations show how the variations of time of the three components (one component for each dimension of space, i.e., X,Y,Z) of the oscillating electric field produce a variation of the magnetic field. Conversely, the variations of time of the three spatial components of the magnetic field describe how the electrostatic field varies from point-to-point in space.

A wave equation describes the spatial variations of the amplitude of a field to the variations of the field with respect to time. The denominator is the square of a length, and the second is the square of a period of time. This type of wave equation produces a numerical value for the speed of the wave and Maxwell was the first to show this wave speed is the same as the speed of light. These values do not depend on the inertial reference frame of the observer which, again, prompted Einstein to exhaustively review Maxwell's previous work while formulating his ideas on the theory of relativity.

Heinrich Hertz applied Maxwell's theory of electromagnetic oscillators and was the first to demonstrate that electromagnetic waves can be produced exactly as Maxwell predicted. Maxwell's original foray into electrical experimenting began with his acute perception of a lack of symmetry in electric and magnetic fields. His brilliant work provided the theoretical framework for the discovery of radio and elevated mathematics as a powerful tool in the physicist's bag of tricks with which to unlock the laws of nature. Maxwell also contributed to the molecular theory of matter, the thermal laws of matter (Maxwell's “demon”), and assisted in the development of statistical mechanics.

End

Ode to Tesla*

Harry Goldman

The lights are low, the glow is dim,
And coils no longer spout by him.
This man who raised nations high
Is gone and lost for he doth lie.

Power was his life and deeds;
Induction, capacity, his growing seeds;
Who challenged nature's loftiest bolts
Of lightning and Thunder's heartiest jolts.

Towers of polyphase, cross country they run.
Ships without crews were part of his fun.
Wireless power, fantastic it seems,
What feat next from this dreamer of dreams.

He closed a switch and lighted his signs;
A motor whirred, a dynamo whined.
The earth trembled from vibrations mechanical
And electrical currents of os'lations tyrannical.

He did not reap where he had sown,
And others claimed his deeds their own.
Ignored, ridiculed, and pirated, too,
He held not contempt for those untrue.

Blind, faint-hearted, doubting world,
'Niko' is dead, his genius lies furled.
Incline thine ear to heavenly refrains,
The body, to dust, but the spirit remains.

* An original poem written shortly after attending the 100th anniversary of Tesla's birth program at Chicago, 1956