Did James Clerk Maxwell Ever Draw a Picture of an Electromagnetic Wave?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the historical question of whether James Clerk Maxwell ever drew a picture of an electromagnetic wave in his notebooks, and who might have been the first to create such a representation. Participants express interest in identifying early visual depictions of electromagnetic waves, particularly those illustrating the perpendicular sinusoidal electric and magnetic fields of a propagating photon.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Historical

Main Points Raised

  • One participant inquires specifically about Maxwell's notebooks and seeks the earliest drawing of an electromagnetic wave.
  • Another participant suggests that Heinrich Hertz was likely the first to draw an electromagnetic wave in the 1880s.
  • A different participant proposes Oliver Heaviside as a candidate for having contributed significantly to the representation of Maxwell's laws, although they lack proof for this claim.
  • There is a correction regarding the spelling of Oliver Heaviside's name, with participants acknowledging the error.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on who was the first to draw an electromagnetic wave, with multiple competing views presented regarding Hertz and Heaviside.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty about the historical details and lack definitive evidence for their claims regarding the first drawings of electromagnetic waves.

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Did James Clerk Maxwell Ever Draw a Picture of an Electromagnetic Wave in any of his notebooks?

Who was the first one to draw one? Would love to find the first picture representing it all!

I am looking for the first example of a drawing looking like this showing the perpendicular sinusoidal E & M waves of a propagating photon:

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/electromagnetic/electromagneticjavafigure1.jpg

https://www.google.com/search?q=ele...niv&sa=X&ei=kmdeVNJg0M-IAtrEgJAH&ved=0CDgQsAQ

Thanks!

Who was the first one to draw one? Would love to find the first picture representing it!

Or at least an early one.

:)
 
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It was probably Heinrich Hertz in the 1880's.
 
Thanks! Does anyone else have any ideas regarding this? Thanks! :)
 
My vote is Oliver heaverstead who made vector calculus and made maxwell's laws into what they are today. But don't have proof.
 
Cool4Kat said:
Oliver heaverstead

I think you mean Oliver Heaviside.
 
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Vanadium 50 said:
I think you mean Oliver Heaviside.
I think you are right. Sorry about that!