Einstein was the first to truly grasp James Clerk Maxwell's work. If Maxwell hadn't died in 1879 at only 48, then I like to imagine he would have produced Speci

Einstein was the first to truly grasp James Clerk Maxwell's work. If Maxwell hadn't died in 1879 at only 48, then I like to imagine he would have produced Special Relativity – most of it is there in his famous equations. Einstein also had the benefit of knowing the null result of the Michelson–Morley experiment (1887), and Hertz's experimental confirmation of electromagnetic waves moving at the speed of light (1889) predicted by Maxwell. Einstein, of course, explicitly recognised Maxwell and kept a picture of him on his office wall. While Einstein's theoretical work is fabulous, it was Maxwell who first broke away from the mechanical model; something that even his illustrious contemporaries struggled to understand. If you appreciate Einstein, yet know little of Maxwell, then The Man Who Changed Everything[0] is a great introduction. [0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29442.The_Man_Who_Changed_Everything https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29442.The_Man_Who_Change...