MAXWELL ON THE METHOD OF PHYSICAL ANALOGY*

IN addition to his scientific work, James Clerk Maxwell gave some attention to what is now known as the philosophy of science. Much of what he said has been said by others, but he did say it early and rather well. Maxwell was interested in both broad philosophical issues and the special problems which arose out of his own contribution to physics. These special problems included physical analogy, dynamical explanation, and action at a distance. The present report is confined to Maxwell's views on the method of physical analogy. There are fashions in scientific explanation. Nineteenth-century Cambridge physics had its own distinctive cut, but Maxwell's observations on the methods he employed and the results he obtained are still instructive today. Maxwell did not write systematically on physical analogy. His views have to be gathered from the many asides that are scattered through his scientific memoirs and treatises, and from the more popular papers he prepared. These papers include lectures, addresses to learned societies, biographical sketches, articles for the Ninth Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, and book reviews for Nature.