NUMERICAL LAWS AND MATHEMATICS 155 



Suppose you found a page with the following marks on 

 it never mind if they mean anything : 



dy dp dX dy dp 



dy dz dt dy dz 



da dy dY da dy 



!=__- _ __ 



dz dx dt dz dx 



dp da dZ dp da 



dx dy dt dx dy 



da dY dZ da dY dZ 



dt dz dy dt dz dy 



dp dZ dX dp dZ dX 



dt dx dz dt dx dz 



dy dX dY dy dX dY 



dt dy dx dt dy dx 



I think you would see that the set of symbols on the 

 right side are " prettier " in some sense than those on 

 the left ; they are more symmetrical. Well, the great 

 physicist, James Clerk Maxwell, about 1870, thought 

 so too ; and by substituting the symbols on the right 

 side for those on the left, he founded modern physics, 

 and, among other practical results, made wireless 

 telegraphy possible. 



It sounds incredible ; and I must try to explain a little 

 more. The symbols on the left side represent two 

 well-known electrical laws : Ampere's Law and Faraday's 

 Law ; or rather a theory suggested by an analogy with 

 those laws. The symbols i, j, k represent in those laws 



