Hans Christian?ersted (Figure 1) was a professor of physics at the University of Copenhagen (1777-1851). When he learned of the invention of the electric battery in 1799 from Alessandro Volta, he began to experiment with electric currents.
Maxwell's equations explain all phenomena of classical electrodynamics, magnetism, and optics the way Newton's equaMaxwelltions of motion describe classical mechanics. Maxwell introduced the theoretical description of electromagnetic waves and fostered a deeper understanding of the behavior of light.
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