James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) was a Scottish mathematician and physicist whose work was called by no less a luminary than Albert Einstein the "most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton."

    It was Einstein himself who coined the term "unified field theory" (or "UFT") to describe a theoretical model that would describe all the known forces and particles of physics. The quest for the UTF remains active to this day, but Maxwell took one giant step toward its discovery when he managed to bring together the fields of electricity, magnetism, and light. Maxwell is generally cited as the greatest scientist of the 19th century, and the third greatest of all time--after Newton and Einstein.

    Maxwell was born to a noble family in Edinburgh, Scotland. His original surname was Clerk; he added "Maxwell" after inheriting an estate from the Maxwell family. He was an extremely inquisitive child, showing signs of unusual curiosity. When he was just 3, his mother wrote, "...he has great work with doors, locks, keys, etc., and 'show me how it doos' is never out of his mouth" [that is, he is always saying, "Show me how it works."]

    Under his mother's instruction, by the age of 8, he could recite passages from the Bible and John Milton. About that time, his mother died; after an unsuccessful experience with a tutor, he was sent to Edinburgh Academy at 10, staying with an aunt who lived near the school. He loved drawing, a passion that was encouraged by an older cousin, artist Jemima Blackburn.

    Though a mediocre scholar, Maxwell was productive outside of the classroom, pursuing interests in many fields. At 16 he transferred to the University of Edinburgh, and later studied at Cambridge. At 25, he became by far the youngest professor at Marischal College in Aberdeen, Scotland. A few years later he moved to King's College, London, and then returned to Scotland around 35 to do research. At 40, he accepted a professorship at Cambridge, where he stayed until his death from cancer at the young age of 48.

    Vocabulary: Which word above means:

    1. in a social class close to royalty

    2. joined together as one

    3. say out loud from memory

    4. search, mission

    5. not very good

    6. productive

    7. desire to know something

    8. force which attracts metal

    9. private teacher

    10. asking a lot of questions

    ANSWERS: 1. noble 2. unified 3. recite 4. quest 5. mediocre 6. fruitful 7. curiosity 8. magnetism 9. tutor 10. inquisitive