Campaigners have theory for memorial to city physicist

HE HAS been honoured with his own mountain range on Venus and a telescope named after him in Hawaii.

But there is no major public memorial in the Capital to city-born James Clerk Maxwell - one of the greatest theoretical physicists the world has ever known.

Now campaigners are lobbying to have a square planned for a new development in the heart of the Old Town named in honour of the scientist.

Clerk Maxwell, who made the world's first colour photograph, is best known for his work on electromagnetism and light, which paved the way for the invention of the television and even breakthroughs in cancer research.

His research was used as a basis for luminaries such as Albert Einstein and Max Planck.

Residents and scientists want the square, proposed as part of the Caltongate development behind the Canongate, to be called the James Clerk Maxwell Square.

They have also unveiled plans for a piece of art representing Maxwell's greatest discoveries - chosen through a Scotland-wide design competition and funded by the James Clerk Maxwell Foundation - to be exhibited in the square, alongside a plaque detailing his life and work.

The suggestion, put forward by Clerk Maxwell enthusiast Bruce Borthwick, is backed by the Foundation, the Old Town Residents' Association and local councillors.

Mr Borthwick said: "Clerk Maxwell is the greatest mind that Edinburgh, and indeed Scotland, has ever produced, yet he is more or less ignored.

"When I saw the plans for the development, it struck me that this is a wonderful idea. A lot of people will pass through this square and it would be a fantastic way of exposing his name."

He added: "If he was in any other country, people would be worshipping him.

"If he was a musician, people would be writing about him and talking about him like they do about Mozart - but they don't. This square would be a fitting public tribute to a great genius."

The final decision on the name of the square would be made by the council once planning permission for the development has been granted.

A council spokeswoman said names were usually chosen based on historical associations with the area.

A small engraved stone at 14 India Street, Stockbridge - where the scientist was born - and the James Clerk Maxwell building at King's Buildings in Edinburgh University, are the only city acknowledgements to his connection to Edinburgh.

Holyrood councillor Bill Cunningham said: "I am quite happy with the idea. Clerk Maxwell is an Edinburgh scientist and it would be nice to honour someone like that in naming the square. I will support the local residents in trying to make this happen. I think it would be a great idea if there was a plaque about Maxwell too."

A spokesman for the developers behind Caltongate, Mountgrange, said: "We have been in touch with the Old Town Association and the James Clerk Maxwell Federation and the talks are ongoing."

The Facts

James Clerk Maxwell was one of the greatest theoretical physicists the world has ever known. Born on June 13, 1831 at 14 India Street, he was brought up in Edinburgh, was schooled at Edinburgh Academy (where he was known as "Dafty"), 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.

Albert Einstein described his work as the "most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton".

He said of Clerk Maxwell: "One epoch changed for mankind and another started with James Clerk Maxwell."

Clerk Maxwell died on November 5, 1879 of a form of hereditary cancer.