Unveiling of James Clerk Maxwell statue in Edinburgh

On Tuesday 25th November, a magnificent statue of James Clerk Maxwell, the first Cavendish Professor of Experimental Physics and founder of the Cavendish Laboratory, was unveiled in Edinburgh. This is the first public monument to honour Scotland's greatest scientist and is superbly located at the east end of George Street, not far from the Royal Society of Edinburgh. A book commemorating the occasion is now available and contains all the lectures given at the celebratory meeting held on the same day at the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The book contains a wonderful description of the creation of the statue by the sculptor Alexander (Sandy) Stoddart, as well as a survey of the significance of Maxwell's scientific achievements by Malcolm Longair. The contribution of the Cavendish Laboratory to the funding of the statue is acknowledged on a bronze panel at the east end of the plinth. The side friezes on the plinth contain classical representations of the Schools of Newton and Einstein, Maxwell providing the essential link between the mechanical world of Newton and the world of fields of Einstein.