who were the Maxwellians?

[AntonioLao]

They are the electromagnetic propagandists. The most notorious were Hertz and Helmholtz from Germany; Boltzmann from Austria; Heaviside, FitzGerald, Lodge, and J.J. Thomson from the United Kingdoms; and the Dutchman Lorentz.

Without their pioneering works and some personal sacrifices there could never be any electric power generation industry. Neither would there be any telecommunication industry: the telegraph, the radios (short and long waves), the telephones, the computers, the internet, and recently the cell phones.

This is a revolution that started almost 200 years ago by Maxwell when he published his treatises on the theory of electromagnetism. They are the ones modern science and technology should be thankful for, for generations to come.

[Guille]

I agree. People know about AT&T or Vodafone, they know about KissFM, about the FOX, about Apple's Ipods and a short american dude with $ millions falling out of his pockets called Bill Gates. Whiles really the gates were opened by Maxwell, Lorentz, Faraday...

[AntonioLao]

Whiles really the gates were opened

Distinction between scientists and entepreneurs. But alot of scientists formed their own businesses. Big corporations now have an inhouse research and development section for doing these original discoveries.

[Guille]

Distinction between scientists and entepreneurs. But alot of scientists formed their own businesses. Big corporations now have an inhouse research and development section for doing these original discoveries.

Richard Arkwright was the first of these. I remember studying him last year in history about UK's industrial revolution. He first had some inventions and then became a businessman. But in fact he wasn't an inventor: he stole some plan papers of an invention for a mill based on water-power from a friend of him, and claimed t be his. He had no good education ever. And anyway I don't really consider scientists that much of scientists if they become businessmen. If Einstein had created a company called Einstein Electrics selling all the tools that were developed from his photoelectric effect paper, he wouldn't be considered such a good person. That is because he wouldn't be such a good person. The genius does the work for his own good, because he wants, yes, but it is something that he gives to humanity. However, the businessman does it all for himself. I talk about this in the "Why Do Intellectuals Oppose Capitalism?" thread.