James Clerk Maxwell

Dr. James Clerk Maxwell was a Scottish physicist who made some far-reaching advances on electromagnetism. He held Professorships in a number of institutions, becoming the first Cavendish Professor of Physics at Cambridge University in 1871.

His contribution to photography was in his studies of color. Lecturing at the Royal Institution in London (May 1861) he was the first to demonstrate that by taking three pictures, each through a primary color filter, and projecting the three using corresponding filters, so that they overlapped, color pictures could be re-created. In working on his color theories he collaborated with Thomas Sutton. See also www.maxwellyear2006.org