James Clerk Maxwell Statue
James Clerk Maxwell Statue
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Neighborhood: New Town
Suits and shopping bags rule the streets of New Town, until after dark when strappy dresses come out to play. This is the city’s central business district with its smaller offices, clothes boutiques, and many of the city’s flashiest restaurants and ritziest clubs. The architecture along roads like George Street helps give it a swank and formal feel: it’s a planned Georgian development of regal townhouses, geometric squares, and self-important statues. But it’s also a very wanderable neighborhood, with a healthy bustle at almost any time of day and fine people-watching in places like St Andrew's Square which fills with picnickers around lunch. You’ll also find a series of cheerful basement bistros on Hanover Street, while dark Rose Street has something of the feel of an undiscovered back alley and is chock-full of characterful pubs and small independent shops.
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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4.0
30 reviews
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Malgorzata
12,085 contributions
Oct 2019
A statue of James Clerk Maxwell, the most famous Scottish physicist and one of the greatest physicists in history. It is good to see an acknowledgment to one of the greatest minds in history. Whole new epoch has started because of Maxwell. Definitely worth visiting. The statue is in the middle of the road.Therefore, be careful when taking pictures.
Written September 2, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Pittsburgh, PA127,441 contributions
Sep 2018 • Couples
Another one of the numerous statues in Edinburgh, I never saw so many statues anywhere. This one gets lost amongst the rest.
Written October 9, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Citallwic
Columbia, SC8,764 contributions
Aug 2015 • Solo
James Clerk Maxwell, who formulated the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, and who is regarded as the third most influential physicist who ever lived (behind only Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein), was an Edinburgher. This fairly new (2008) statue on the east end of George Street near the Royal Society of Edinburgh and St. Andrew Square sure is modestly sized, given that it honors a scientist who was a giant in his field and one of the most important residents that Edinburgh has ever had. Check out the plaque on the plinth that shows the four Maxwell Equations of electromagnetism.
Written October 4, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
johnnymac2017
Kilmacolm, UK1,324 contributions
Aug 2017 • Solo
I read in a poll at the millennium that Maxwell was rated the 3rd greatest physicist of all time behind Newton and Einstein.
He is the finest scientist Scotland has ever produced, but alas, nowadays is largely forgotten.
I would consider him to be a polymath.
He is/was famous for Maxwell's Mathematic Equations, which he devised and used, amongst other things, to solve the puzzle of Saturn's rings. This was confirmed 100+ years later by a NASA probe.
As a theoretical physicist, he created the foundations for our modern life, when he discovered electromagnetic waves. Nowadays this is used for TV, microwaves, the internet etc etc.
As if that was not enough, he also produced the first ever colour photograph.
He is the finest scientist Scotland has ever produced, but alas, nowadays is largely forgotten.
I would consider him to be a polymath.
He is/was famous for Maxwell's Mathematic Equations, which he devised and used, amongst other things, to solve the puzzle of Saturn's rings. This was confirmed 100+ years later by a NASA probe.
As a theoretical physicist, he created the foundations for our modern life, when he discovered electromagnetic waves. Nowadays this is used for TV, microwaves, the internet etc etc.
As if that was not enough, he also produced the first ever colour photograph.
Written August 25, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Manas R
Cedar Rapids, IA109 contributions
Apr 2023 • Friends
I noticed this statue and recognised this gentleman while being driven around Edinburgh, Scotland. Since the guide didn’t tell anything , I got up and took this photo from our bus. He is none other than James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) whose four equations revolutionised the field of Electromagnetism. Although dreadful for students, without these equations there would have been no Radio, TV, or mobile phones.
Einstein, when he visited the University of Cambridge in 1922, was told by his host that he had done great things because he stood on Newton's shoulders; Einstein replied: "No I don't. I stand on the shoulders of Maxwell."
In 2015 I had attended a special session on 150 years of Maxwell’s Equations organized by IEEE.
I don’t know whether there is any statue in the world with “Equations “ as inscribed on one of the faces of this statue .
Einstein, when he visited the University of Cambridge in 1922, was told by his host that he had done great things because he stood on Newton's shoulders; Einstein replied: "No I don't. I stand on the shoulders of Maxwell."
In 2015 I had attended a special session on 150 years of Maxwell’s Equations organized by IEEE.
I don’t know whether there is any statue in the world with “Equations “ as inscribed on one of the faces of this statue .
Written May 4, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
malc1005
Kettering, UK5,530 contributions
Sep 2019
A nice statue to James Clerk Maxwell, situated in George Street, so easy to find. Well worth a visit.
Written September 24, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dimitris L
Sydney, Australia50,924 contributions
Sep 2018 • Couples
The statue to James Clerk Maxwell is well deserved and it was far too late in being built, 175 years after his birth and 117 years after he died! He did some really revolutionary work on electricity and magnetism, so he was quite an important scientist. It is curious that some important people just do not seem to "count" like some others when it comes to having monuments built to honour them! It's worth alook.
Written November 18, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Seamus
26 contributions
Aug 2018 • Solo
James Clerk Maxwell was one of the brightest scientists in the history of humanity. He was Albert Einstein's hero! But oddly, and quite sadly I think, you'll not find 1 in 100 in this country that have even heard of him, much less have the faintest clue about what he did. I think it says something... It can't be counted as a positive that millions of schoolchildren in this country have completed their studies without having heard of him, but it explains some things. In a city that prides itself on its history, it's beyond peculiar that this statue was only recently emplaced, and is a relatively minor statue in a city which has many.
Having shared that opinion, I'll say that the statue is quite a good one. And if you'll look down on the ground beneath the statue, you'll see the discovery for which Maxwell is most well-known: Maxwell's Equations. Maxwell's Equations are a set of "partial differential equations" that provided the foundation upon which our understanding of electromagnetism is built - these relationships have illuminated the path for others to discover radar (which helped England survive Nazi Germany's bombardments), and even the cellphone service peddled by a host of merchants that so many of us depend on for communications. Truly, it would be a different world today had James Clerk Maxwell not done what he did. And once you understand the magnitude of his contribution, you will wonder why the statue is not 300 feet tall.
Having shared that opinion, I'll say that the statue is quite a good one. And if you'll look down on the ground beneath the statue, you'll see the discovery for which Maxwell is most well-known: Maxwell's Equations. Maxwell's Equations are a set of "partial differential equations" that provided the foundation upon which our understanding of electromagnetism is built - these relationships have illuminated the path for others to discover radar (which helped England survive Nazi Germany's bombardments), and even the cellphone service peddled by a host of merchants that so many of us depend on for communications. Truly, it would be a different world today had James Clerk Maxwell not done what he did. And once you understand the magnitude of his contribution, you will wonder why the statue is not 300 feet tall.
Written August 30, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
permia
Ireland64,904 contributions
Jun 2017 • Couples
The great man sits holding a colour wheel with a dog at his feet. On the pedestal is shown his mathematical equations that advanced the science of electricity and magnetism.
The bas-reliefs illustrate further seminal scientific discoveries. Newton is shown splitting light with a prism, the light beam being fired by Apollo. Einsteinian gravity is conveyed with a mass curving space.
The bas-reliefs illustrate further seminal scientific discoveries. Newton is shown splitting light with a prism, the light beam being fired by Apollo. Einsteinian gravity is conveyed with a mass curving space.
Written July 17, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
nellielim
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia4,019 contributions
Apr 2017 • Family
The statue of physicist James Clerk Maxwell is at St Andrew Square end of George Street. He was a mathematician and physicist formulating the equations of classical electromagnetic theory. These four equations known as Maxwell's equations are shown on a small plaque at the rear of the statue's plinth.
Written June 22, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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