History(from google James clark Maxwell: (1831-1879 In the 1860s and 1870s, James Clerk Maxwell developed the theory of electric and magnetic forces, summarized in his famous four equations. these equations encapsulated all that had been discovered about electricity and magnetism in the experiments done over the previous few hundred years by Faraday, Volta, and many others. They showed that electricity and magnetism were two aspects of the same force. The equations also predicted that there should be a form of radiation which came to be known as electromagnetic radiation Maxwell realized that light was a form of electromagnetic radiation Around 1862 he wrote We can scarcely avoid the conclusion that light consists in the transverse undulations of the same medium which is the cause of electric and magnetic phenomena The equations predicted that electromagnetic radiation could exist with any wavelength. The various colors of light have wavelengths less than a thousandth of a millimeter. Much longer wavelengths are possible 上海海学信息工程学院上海海事大学信息工程学院 History (from google) ◼ James Clark Maxwell: (1831-1879) ◼ In the 1860s and 1870s, James Clerk Maxwell developed the theory of electric and magnetic forces, summarized in his famous four equations. These equations encapsulated all that had been discovered about electricity and magnetism in the experiments done over the previous few hundred years by Faraday, Volta, and many others. They showed that electricity and magnetism were two aspects of the same force. The equations also predicted that there should be a form of radiation, which came to be known as electromagnetic radiation. Maxwell realized that light was a form of electromagnetic radiation. Around 1862 he wrote, "We can scarcely avoid the conclusion that light consists in the transverse undulations of the same medium which is the cause of electric and magnetic phenomena." ◼ The equations predicted that electromagnetic radiation could exist with any wavelength. The various colors of light have wavelengths less than a thousandth of a millimeter. Much longer wavelengths are possible