Jethalal S. Zaveri
Prof. Muni Mahendra Kumar
In the nineteenth century, the first persons to go beyond the Newtonian Physics were Michael Faraday and James Clerk Maxwell. This radical change in scientific outlook was brought about by the discovery of a new type of force, which the mechanistic model failed to describe. This was the 'electromagnetic phenomena'. In fact, Faraday was the first person to bring science and technology to a turning point by producing an electric current in a coil of copper by moving a magnet near it. The colossal technology of electrical engineering was the result of this fundamental experiment converting mechanical energy into electrical one. At the same time, it formed the foundation of the theory of electrodynamics. The fundamental difference between the Newtonian laws and Electrodynamics is the concept of "field of force", i.e. an electric charge produces a 'condition' in space around it so that another charge feels a force. This was a much subtler concept than that of Newtonian 'force' and eliminated the existence of ether. It produced a most profound change in the basic concept of physical reality. It was Einstein who clearly recognised this fact 50 years later, when he declared that no ether existed and the electromagnetic fields were physical entities, which could travel through empty space and could not be explained mechanically. Ultimately, it resulted in the realization of the electromagnetic nature of light.
