'Fundamental to Who He Was'

Tuesday March 12

Bruce Ritchie introduces a new book on the faith of Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell

Albert Einstein said that a new era of physics began with James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879). When asked if it were by standing on the shoulders of Isaac Newton that he was able to formulate his theory of relativity, Einstein replied: ‘That statement is not quite right; I stood on the shoulders of James Clerk Maxwell.’

Maxwell (right) is possibly Scotland’s greatest ever scientist. Described as ‘The Man who changed Everything’, he ranks with Newton and Einstein in a select pantheon of intellectual giants. He linked light and electromagnetism. He developed the ‘Maxwell Equations’, on which modern science is based. He did pioneer mathematical work on the rings of Saturn: since verified by satellite fly-pasts.

He advanced the notion of ‘field-theory’ in physics. This caused Einstein to remark that, since Maxwell, reality is no longer viewed as physical objects but as continuous fields, creating a totally new way of seeing the universe. Maxwell also produced the first colour images, and helped to initiate statistical laws in science. The modern world and its technology is a product of Maxwell’s science.

As a toddler Maxwell’s repeated question to his father was ‘What’s the go o’ that?’ In other words: how and why does it work like that. Educated in Galloway, Edinburgh, and Cambridge, Maxwell became Professor in Aberdeen and London, before creating the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge. Since his time, the Cavendish has produced over 50 Nobel prize-winners.

Maxwell was also a man of deep Christian faith. He composed hymns. He wrote prayers. He was an elder in his local kirk. He pastorally visited his district and prayed with the people. He and his wife Katherine read the Bible together every day. For Maxwell, ‘union with Christ’ was fundamental to who he was. And when Maxwell looked for a key to understanding the universe he found it in Christ, basing it in Colossians chapter 1 which states that all things hold together in Christ.

He was orthodox in his beliefs, acknowledging Christ as fully God and fully man. T F Torrance, internationally acclaimed theologian and former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, ventured that it was concepts in Maxwell’s trinitarian faith which enabled him to think in totally new ways about the nature of reality.

His father was Presbyterian. His mother was Episcopalian. And he was comfortable in both traditions. What he looked for in his ministers was preaching which allowed the Bible to speak for itself. Whilst in London the Maxwells attended the local Baptist Church. But his first love was the wee country kirk at Corsock in Galloway where George Sturrock was his minister.

The ethical side of being a Christian was important for Maxwell. He wanted a basis for ethics and found it in Scripture, especially in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Making his faith practical was vital . Maxwell believed that one area in which he could help society was in aiding impoverished families rise out of their desperate situation through education. And so, for all his adult life, he gave free lectures to help the cause.

He had his own thoughts on Darwin’s theory of evolution through natural selection. He opposed Huxley’s atheistic view that human beings are simply bio-mechanical robots. And he believed that because men and women are created in the image of God, then doing science and understanding God’s universe was a spiritual task.

My new book about James Clerk Maxwell, issued by Handsel Press, looks at his faith and church life in depth. Understanding Maxwell’s Christian mind-set is crucial to understanding Maxwell the genius scientist. What emerges is not only Maxwell’s brilliance but also his kindness and compassion. The gentle piety of his upbringing, plus his own commitment to Christ, made James Clerk Maxwell the person he was: a man greatly respected and admired by all who met him, whether believers or non-believers.

It was Maxwell who chose the text from Psalm 111 which was written in the stonework of the original Cavendish Laboratory. Originally inscribed in Latin, the later translation is taken from Myles Coverdale’s 15th century version: ‘The works of the Lord are great; sought out by all them that have pleasure therein’.

Bruce Ritchie is a retired minister and theology lecturer, serving as a parish minister in Galloway, Crieff and Dingwall, mission partner based in Malawi, and tutor at Highland Theological College. James Clerk Maxwell: Faith, Church and Physics is available through Handsel Press.

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