Biot-Savart Law: Proven or Guessed?

[Bobhawke]

Is the Biot Savart law similar to the coulomb law in that it is something that is guessed initially, and later shown to give the same solution that Maxwell's equations give (except Maxwell's equations are a generalisation), or is it something that is proven? And if it is proven, could someone provide that proof.

Thanks

 

[Meir Achuz]

Physical laws are based on experimental observation.
The B-S law was deduced by Laplace, based on measurements by Biot and Savart.
Maxwell later derived one of his equations from it.
You can derive Max's equation from B-S or B-S from Max's equation, so they are connected, but the proof is in the pudding (experiment).