The Origins of Field Theory

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 160 pages
• Published by: University Press of America February 28, 1989
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0819111767
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0819111760
• Book Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Weighs: 6.6 ounces

Product Description
Originally published by Random House in 1966, this classic work is an indepth analysis of the pioneering work of Michael Faraday. Since Faraday was the major architect of field theory, the book focuses on the evolution of his ideas and their impact on the scientific community of the nineteenth century. The concluding chapter discusses the more mathematical contribution of James Maxwell, who was instrumental in turning Faraday's heresies into the orthodoxy of classical field theory.

Reader Reviews
Because the book really maps out a clear development of thought, its many little imponderables can be easily overlooked. To understand field theory in its historical perspective, one can't do much better and it's easy to do far, far worse. Now according to Dr. Diane Davis Villemaire (of McGill University...an association that is always a good sign) "In the last analysis, it was a personality conflict with the discipline that made him glad enough to leave it to people like A. Rupert Hall and L. Pierce Williams, history of science professor at Cornell during the 1960s." (page 193 of E.A. Burtt, Historian and Philosopher). I don't see any conflict with this book of L. Pierce Williams and Burtt's Metaphysical foundations of physical science. None whatsoever. In fact the two book beautifully dovetail each other in my mind.