Editing Cavendish: Maxwell and The Electrical Researches of Henry Cavendish

TL;DR

This paper examines Maxwell's editing of Cavendish's electrical researches, highlighting its significance for Maxwell's own electrical theories and experimental methodology, challenging the view that it was merely a duty or waste of time.

Contribution

It analyzes Maxwell's editorial choices and their impact on understanding Cavendish's experiments and Maxwell's development of electrical doctrine.

Findings

Maxwell's editing was influenced by his electrical research interests.

Cavendish's experiments played a crucial role in Maxwell's theoretical development.

The editorial process reveals Maxwell's methodological insights.

Abstract

During the last five years of his life, 1874-79, James Clerk Maxwell was absorbed in editing the electrical researches of Henry Cavendish, performed 100 years earlier. This endeavour is often assumed to be a work of duty to the Cavendish family, and an unfortunate waste of Maxwell's time. By looking at the history of Cavendish's papers, and the editorial choices that Maxwell made, this paper questions this assumption, considering the importance of Cavendish's experiments in Maxwell's electrical programme, and the implications that he may have derived for developing a doctrine of experimental method.