James Clerk Maxwell 1864
The Wave Surfers 3
In the first half of the19th century the Danishman Ørsted, the Frenchman Ampère and in particular the Englishman Faraday discovered with their experiments the phenomenon of electricity and the connection between electricity and magnetism. However, it was the Scotsman Maxwell who developed a comprehensive theory of electricity and magnetism. His equations helped to understand the findings and furthermore proved light to be an electromagnetical wave, too. Einstein said that Maxwell's works were the most profound and the most fruitful that physics had experienced since the time of Newton. Their impact on modern physics cannot at all be overestimated.