When several of our outstanding scientists were asked to name the three greatest, in their view, physicists of all time,their opinions devided, but none of them forgot Maxwell. Indeed, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of the work of James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879), whose research is not only formed the basis for radio and television equipment, but also become a cornerstone of modern understanding of matter.
It is interesting that in the age of fourteen, his name became known among British scientists. This happened after James went on lecture of one artist that dedicated communication arts and mathematics, whose main conclusion was that a person can make beautiful things, knowing only the math. The boy left the lecture in shock: it seized the opportunity to make beautiful things with geometric concepts and devices.
how did the ancient Etruscans, without knowing the geometry, have built perfect ovals? If you can build a circle with a compass, then what should be the "compass" for the construction of oval? These and other issues were not given the boy calm.
After much thoughts James did invent a device to build the oval, instead of needles usual compass - two pins instead of the legs of a compass that ensure sustainability distance from any point of the circle to the center circle - closed thread that provides equal amounts of distances from points on the oval both tricks and instead of pencil compass - an ordinary pencil.
If one focus, the device turns into James' spinning compass "- a thread that around one end inverted pin, and another - a pencil, ruled by the radius of the circle under construction. If the two foci, pins, respectively, also two - appears oval, and if more tricks - new unknown figure ...
Boys findings was extremely simple and ingenious. Both he and his father initially thought that such a simple thing could not came to someone mind. Father James to dispel their doubts, appealed to the artist and lecturer, who only looked at the "invention" of young man immediately rushed to University of Edinburgh professor friend of Mr. Forbes.
The professor was so impressed that more acquainted with the new method of constructing bahatofokusnyh figures a month on behalf of fourteen guy personally made a report to the Royal Society.
After the report paper with the name James Clerk Maxwell published in "Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh." Moreover, the comments to the article stated that the method of constructing figures large order originates in Descartes, and "Descartes' method was more complicated than the method Mr. Clerk Maxwell." This neighborhood families was more than significant.
Interestingly, the use of "pins and threads" in Maxwell's scientific work on this has not ended: with their help he studied optical phenomena later. Convenient way we always seem simple, but is said to be easy to invent very difficult, but difficult - just ...