Thank You Mr. Maxwell

March 14, 2008 by Isaac

I am in constant amazement at the increasing rate of technological progress this world is making. In the grand scale of things it was not all that many years ago that radio, or x-rays, for example, were discovered. Heck, my iPod Nano has a more powerful computer than the original room sized vacuum tube computers did. Now that is amazing!

Yesterday I received a MRI for the back pain I've been having. I am hoping for the best, but in any case that would not have been possible if it were not for Maxwell's Equations. James Clerk Maxwell came up with equations to describe the interactions of electromagnetic fields, electric charges, and electric current. Fundamentally a MRI machine is a huge magnet that induces small currents in human cells. These currents and their associated magnetic fields are read and a 3D picture of the body is created. It's amazing when you think about it.

So, thank you Mr. Maxwell for describing via equation these fundamental forces of the universe.

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