First new statue on George Street since 1873?

Published on Tuesday 1 May 2007 12:09

THE first statue in more than 100 years is set to be unveiled on Edinburgh's George Street in honour of an eminent city scientist.

James Clerk Maxwell - whose research inspired Albert Einstein - will join King George IV, Prime Minister William Pitt and mathematician Thomas Chalmers, at the prestigious address.

Sandy Stoddart, one of Scotland's best-known sculptors, has agreed to design the Maxwell statue, which is planned for the east end of the thoroughfare.

The Paisley-born artist was also behind the statues of philosopher David Hume on the Royal Mile and the "Kidnapped" memorial to Robert Louis Stevenson in Corstorphine. City screen legend Sir Sean Connery even attended the unveiling of the Stevenson statue in 2004.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh is behind the campaign to recognise Maxwell, whose work was said to pave the way for television, mobile phones and microwaves. The society is about to start a 50,000 fundraising drive to pay for the statue.

Society spokesman Stuart Brown said: "We're already speaking to the city council, the Cockburn Association and Edinburgh World Heritage Trust because of the obvious heritage issues involved in erecting a new statue somewhere like George Street, but we're hopeful our plans will be successful."

The three other statues on George Street were unveiled in 1831, 1833 and 1873 respectively. There is also the towering Melville Monument, in St Andrew Square, built between 1820 and 1823 in honour of Henry Dundas - the first Viscount Melville - who was Navy Secretary under Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger.

And in Charlotte Square Gardens stands the Albert Memorial, which was designed by Sir John Steell and unveiled in 1876, erected in honour of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's consort.

Moira Tasker, director of the Cockburn Association, said: "We're very much in favour of what the society are proposing with this statue. It's pretty surprising that there isn't already a statue of Maxwell.

"I don't see any reason why the east end of George Street shouldn't be a suitable location and the nice thing is it will hopefully be finished around the time the refurbishment of St Andrew Square Gardens is finished and they are opened to the public for the first time."

Born in 1831 at 14 India Street, Edinburgh, Maxwell was brought up in the city, and then became a student at Edinburgh University at the age of 16. He was the youngest ever member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, being accepted at the age of 14.

He went on to Trinity College, Cambridge, later becoming a fellow, and in 1856 was appointed professor of natural philosophy at Aberdeen's Marischal College.

Maxwell pioneered colour photography, and produced research on electricity and magnetic lines of force, known in the world of physics as "Maxwell's Equation". He also discovered that the speed of the movement of an electromagnetic field is approximately that of the speed of light.