The Geometry of Equilibrium

The first book to examine James Clerk Maxwell's key discoveries in structural mechanics and their importance in the 21st century.

Engineers, designers, applied mathematicians, physicists, and historians of science can now directly access James Clerk Maxwell's seminal ideas in structural mechanics. Annotations of his texts combined with summaries of the latest research show how this often-overlooked aspect of Maxwell's work has immediate relevance for 21st-century design.James Clerk Maxwell is one of the giants of scientific thought, and whilst his groundbreaking contributions to electromagnetism and statistical physics are well known, his profound insights into the theory of structures are appreciated less widely. Maxwell's approach was deeply geometrical, and this richly illustrated book reveals his astute perception of the remarkable dualities that exist between the form of a structure and the forces it can carry, with understandings that will surprise contemporary readers. Early chapters introduce the background in which Maxwell was working, followed by contributions by leading researchers describing the latest applications of these ideas. Subsequent chapters introduce the many subtopics that this work embraces. The book ends with Maxwell's original papers on structural mechanics, each annotated to highlight and explain the ideas therein. This is a wonderful resource for mathematicians, scientists, engineers, and designers to enter this rich and underexplored aspect of the genius of Maxwell.