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Maxwell, James Clerk (1831-1879), British physicist, best known for his work on the connection between light and electromagnetic waves (traveling waves of energy). Maxwell discovered that light consists of electromagnetic waves (see Electromagnetic Radiation) and ....

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.... at King's College. On the death of his father in 1865, Maxwell returned to his family home in Scotland and devoted himself to research. In 1871 he moved to Cambridge, where he became the first professor of experimental physics and set up the Cavendish Laboratory, which opened in 1874. Maxwell continued in this position until 1879, when illness forced him to resign. Maxwell had many theories. II COLOR VISION Maxwell's first important contribution to science began in 1849, when he applied himself to examining how human eyes detect color. He built on the ideas of British physicist Thomas Young and German scientist Hermann Helmholtz on color vision. Ma ....