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Professor Maxwell's Duplicitous Demon

The Life and Science of James Clerk Maxwell

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Professor Maxwell's Duplicitous Demon

By: Brian Clegg
Narrated by: Simon Mattacks
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About this listen

Asked to name a great physicist, most people would mention Newton or Einstein, Feynman or Hawking. But ask a physicist and there’s no doubt that James Clerk Maxwell will be near the top of the list.

Maxwell, an unassuming Victorian Scotsman, explained how we perceive color. He uncovered the way gases behave. And, most significantly, he transformed the way physics was undertaken in his explanation of the interaction of electricity and magnetism, revealing the nature of light and laying the groundwork for everything from Einstein’s special relativity to modern electronics.

Along the way, he set up one of the most enduring challenges in physics, one that has taxed the best minds ever since. "Maxwell’s demon" is a tiny but thoroughly disruptive thought experiment that suggests the second law of thermodynamics, the law that governs the flow of time itself, can be broken. This is the story of a groundbreaking scientist, a great contributor to our understanding of the way the world works, and his duplicitous demon.

©2019 by Brian Clegg. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. History History & Philosophy Physics Professionals & Academics Science Science & Technology Law Technology Mathematics Cosmology
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JCM, originated my field of study, having studied automatic control 40 years ago this book was a welcome trip down memory lane!
Excellent work, more like this please.

An Engineers dream book.

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I knew JCM was a hero to physics, but didn't realise, although a man of his times, he was such an all-round great guy.

Entertainment and science history in one

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Narrator is excellent, the writing is extremely entertaining. Absolutely inspiring to learn about one of the founders of modern physics.

Excellent brief overview of Maxwell's life.

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I, as a physicist trained in Maxwell's theories LOVED to hear this biography with its witty demonic interludes, reflecting Maxwell's own humour. He was a very interesting guy, and learning he also messed up his arithmetics from time to time makes him more human to me.

Performance was great — loved the Scottish accent when quoting Maxwell. However the name "Euler" was mispronounced and "ln" was read as "I of n" instead of "logarithm" which was an honest but comical mistake.

A great listen for a physicist

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The statue outside the Buchanan Galleries is not Daniel, not James but Donald Dewar!!! If this is wrong can you believe anything else?

Can you trust the facts?

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