Classical electromagnetism: Difference between revisions

The physical phenomena that electromagnetism describes have been studied as separate fields since antiquity. For example, there were many advances in the field of [[History of optics|optics]] centuries before light was understood to be an electromagnetic wave.
n 1820, [[André-Marie Ampère]], after being informed of [[Hans Christian Ørsted]]'s experiment demonstrating the interaction between an electric current and a magnet, formalised mathematically, for the first time, the interaction forces between magnets and currents and the mutual forces between currents. He published a series of articles between 1820 and 1825 which were collected in his 1826 work entitled "Mathematical theory of electrodynamic phenomena, solely deduced from experiment". This work founded electrodynamics and had a considerable influence on 19th century physics. However, the theory of [[electromagnetism]], as it is currently understood, grew out of [[Michael Faraday]]'s experiments suggesting an [[electromagnetic field]] and [[James Clerk Maxwell]]'s use of [[differential equation]]s to describe it in his ''[[A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism]]'' (1873). For a detailed historical account, consult Pauli,<ref>Pauli, W., 1958, ''Theory of Relativity'', Pergamon, London</ref> Whittaker,<ref>Whittaker, E. T., 1960, ''History of the Theories of the Aether and Electricity'', Harper Torchbooks, New York.</ref> Pais,<ref>Pais, A., 1983, ''[[Subtle is the Lord: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein]]'', Oxford University Press, Oxford</ref> and Hunt.<ref>Bruce J. Hunt (1991) [[The Maxwellians]]</ref>