Self Drives: Maxwell's Equations - Maxwell's Edinburgh

Download Maxwell's Edinburgh

Will Self embarks on a road trip from Edinburgh to Cambridge on the trail of Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell who 150 years ago pioneered the theory of the electromagnetic waves which made mobile phones, radio, radar and GPS all possible.

In a bid to understand Maxwell and his achievements, Will plans to drive 600 miles in an electric car, stopping off at locations relevant to the much neglected 19th century physicist.

Will's trip starts promisingly enough when he has a chance encounter with Nobel prize-winning physicist Professor Peter Higgs on an Edinburgh back street not far from Maxwell's birthplace. But things then start to go awry as Will has a rather less welcome run-in in a multi-storey car park...

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Published on Monday, 23rd November 2015.

Available Podcasts from Self Drives: Maxwell's Equations

Subscribe to Self Drives: Maxwell's Equations

We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the Self Drives: Maxwell's Equations webpage.