Beschreibung:
In this volume Pierre Duhem first gives an overview of 19th century electricity and magnetism. Next, he applies his keen historical, philosophical, and physical intuition to critiquing Maxwell's theories, especially his electromagnetic theory of light and the ad hoc introduction of displacement current, which he considers too much a product of the "esprit de géométrie" than the "esprit de finesse," as Pascal calls it.
Chapter 1: Introduction.- PART I: THE ELECTROSTATICS OF MAXWELL.- Chapter 2: The fundamental properties of dielectrics. The doctrines of Faraday and Mossotti.- Chapter 3: The first electrostatics of Maxwell.- Chapter 4: The second electrostatics of Maxwell.- Chapter 5: The third electrostatics of Maxwell.- PART II: THE ELECTRODYNAMICS OF MAXWELL.- Chapter 6: Conduction current and displacement current.- Chapter 7: The six equations of Maxwell and electromagnetic energy.- Chapter 8: The electromagnetic theory of light.- Chapter 9: Conclusion.- References.- Index.