Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1860-1872 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
3 volumes
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born 1831; student, University of Edinburgh, 1847-1850; Peterhouse, Cambridge, 1850; Trinity College, Cambridge, 1850-1854; Fellow of Trinity, 1855; Professor of Natural Philosophy, Marischal College, Aberdeen, 1856-1860; Professor of Natural Philosophy, King's College London, 1860-1865; private studies, 1865-1871; Professor of Experimental Physics, University of Cambridge, 1871-1879; died, 1879.
Publications: On the stability of the motion of Saturn's rings (Cambridge, 1859); Introductory lecture on experimental physics (London and Cambridge, 1871); A treatise on electricity and magnetism, 2 vols (1873); edited The electrical researches of the Honourable Henry Cavendish (Cambridge, 1879)
Repository
Archival history
GB 0100 KCLCA K/PP71 1860-1872 Collection (fonds) 3 volumes Maxwell , James Clerk Maxwell , 1831-1879 , Professor of Physics
Born 1831; student, University of Edinburgh, 1847-1850; Peterhouse, Cambridge, 1850; Trinity College, Cambridge, 1850-1854; Fellow of Trinity, 1855; Professor of Natural Philosophy, Marischal College, Aberdeen, 1856-1860; Professor of Natural Philosophy, King's College London, 1860-1865; private studies, 1865-1871; Professor of Experimental Physics, University of Cambridge, 1871-1879; died, 1879.
Publications: On the stability of the motion of Saturn's rings (Cambridge, 1859); Introductory lecture on experimental physics (London and Cambridge, 1871); A treatise on electricity and magnetism, 2 vols (1873); edited The electrical researches of the Honourable Henry Cavendish (Cambridge, 1879)
Presented to King's College London by the executors of Sir George Greenhill, 1927.
Collection comprising three manuscript notebooks of theoretical problems relating to mechanics compiled by James Clerk Maxwell mainly during his employment at King's College London, including exam questions on aspects of mechanics and geometry, 1860-1865; problems on the collision of elastic spheres and the dynamic relation between other solid bodies; the refraction of light; the relationship between heat and volume in materials; attraction between particles, 1860-1873; notes on the works of leading authorities on mathematics and physics including Arthur Cayley, Franz Neumann and Siméon Poisson, 1867-1873; bibliography of textbooks mainly on mechanics, [1860-1865]; list of scientific instrument suppliers, [1860-1865]; outline of the contents of Maxwell's Treatise on electricity and magnetism (1873).
Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.
Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Director of Archive Services.
English
Summary guide entry and detailed catalogue available online and in hard copy in the King's College Archives Reading Room.
King's College London College Archives holds further entries relating to Maxwell's career in King's College Council Minutes (Ref: KA/C/M), In-Correspondence (Ref: K/IC), photographs (Ref: K/PHOTO), King's College Maxwell Society papers (Ref: KSM), and papers relating to the James Clerk Maxwell Foundation (Ref: K/PP 45).
Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives: correspondence and papers, 1847-1879 (Ref: Add 7655); correspondence with Peter Guthrie Tait, letters to Lord Kelvin, 1854-1879; Cambridge University, Peterhouse Library: family correspondence and miscellaneous papers, 1845-1879; National Library of Scotland, Manuscripts division: paper presented to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1846; Glasgow University Library, Special Collections Department: letters to Lord Kelvin, 1857-1873; London Metropolitan Archives: correspondence with Cecil James Monro (Ref: Acc 1063/2078-2110); St Andrews University Library: correspondence with James David Forbes, 1855-1877.
Sources: Dictionary of national biography; Cyril Domb ed., Clerk Maxwell and modern science (London, 1963); The manuscript papers of British scientists (HMC, London, 1982); National Register of Archives; British Library OPAC. Entry compiled by Geoff Browell. Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. 3 August 2000 Equipment Bibliographies Cayley , Arthur , 1821-1895 , mathematician Educational evaluation Electricity Examinations Geometry King's College London Magnetism Mathematics Maxwell , James Clerk Maxwell , 1831-1879 , physicist Mechanics Neumann , Franz , 1798-1895 , physicist Optics Physics education Poisson , Siméon , 1781-1840 , mathematician Science education Scientific equipment Secondary documents Student evaluation Thermodynamics
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Presented to King's College London by the executors of Sir George Greenhill, 1927.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Collection comprising three manuscript notebooks of theoretical problems relating to mechanics compiled by James Clerk Maxwell mainly during his employment at King's College London, including exam questions on aspects of mechanics and geometry, 1860-1865; problems on the collision of elastic spheres and the dynamic relation between other solid bodies; the refraction of light; the relationship between heat and volume in materials; attraction between particles, 1860-1873; notes on the works of leading authorities on mathematics and physics including Arthur Cayley, Franz Neumann and Siméon Poisson, 1867-1873; bibliography of textbooks mainly on mechanics, [1860-1865]; list of scientific instrument suppliers, [1860-1865]; outline of the contents of Maxwell's Treatise on electricity and magnetism (1873).
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Director of Archive Services.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
King's College London College Archives holds further entries relating to Maxwell's career in King's College Council Minutes (Ref: KA/C/M), In-Correspondence (Ref: K/IC), photographs (Ref: K/PHOTO), King's College Maxwell Society papers (Ref: KSM), and papers relating to the James Clerk Maxwell Foundation (Ref: K/PP 45).
Finding aids
Summary guide entry and detailed catalogue available online and in hard copy in the King's College Archives Reading Room.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives: correspondence and papers, 1847-1879 (Ref: Add 7655); correspondence with Peter Guthrie Tait, letters to Lord Kelvin, 1854-1879; Cambridge University, Peterhouse Library: family correspondence and miscellaneous papers, 1845-1879; National Library of Scotland, Manuscripts division: paper presented to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1846; Glasgow University Library, Special Collections Department: letters to Lord Kelvin, 1857-1873; London Metropolitan Archives: correspondence with Cecil James Monro (Ref: Acc 1063/2078-2110); St Andrews University Library: correspondence with James David Forbes, 1855-1877.
Publication note
Notes area
Note
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
- Secondary documents » Bibliographies
- Educational evaluation
- Electricity
- Educational evaluation » Student evaluation » Examinations
- Mathematics » Geometry
- Magnetism
- Mathematics
- Mechanics
- Optics
- Science education » Physics education
- Science education
- Scientific equipment
- Secondary documents
- Educational evaluation » Student evaluation
- Thermodynamics
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English