PAET II. 



CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE. 



" He was one of those who took more delight in the contemplation 

 of truth than in the praise of having discovered it." 



PLAYF AIR'S Memoirs of Dr. Hutton. 



AT the close of the memoir published in the Proceedings 

 of the Royal Society, Mr. W. D. Mven, referring to Maxwell's 



scientific work, says : 



It is seldom that the faculties of invention and exposition, 

 the attachment to physical science, and capability of developing 

 it mathematically, have been found existing in one mind to the 

 same degree. It would, however, require powers somewhat akin 

 to Maxwell's own, to describe the more delicate features of the 

 works resulting from this combination, every one of which is 

 stamped with the subtle but unmistakable impress of genius. 



It will probably be many years before an approximate 

 estimate can be formed of the value of Maxwell's work. In 

 the following pages no attempt has been made to give more 

 than a brief account of a few of his principal contributions 

 to science. The chief subjects referred to have, for conveni- 

 ence, been arranged in the following order : 



1. Experiments on Colour Vision and other contribu- 

 tions to Optics. 



2. Investigations respecting Elastic Solids. 



3. Pure Geometry. 



4. Mechanics. 



5. Saturn's Eings. 



2 H 



