If physicists are ranked in terms of greatness, in most cases Newton occupies the first position, Einstein can sometimes sit in the first place, and the two of them can be in the top two. Newton was the main creator of classical mechanics, and also made fundamental contributions in the fields of astronomy and optics, and he was also a great mathematician. Einstein founded the theory of relativity and participated in the establishment of quantum mechanics.
When it comes to great physicists, in addition to Newton and Einstein, there is one who must be mentioned, that is, Maxwell. In the ranking of physicists, Maxwell has always been firmly in third place. He was the integrator of the theory of electromagnetism, and his Maxwell equations unified electricity, magnetism, and light. Maxwell's equations are one of the greatest and most brilliant achievements in the history of physics, comparable to Newton's theory of gravity and Einstein's theory of relativity. Maxwell also has major and groundbreaking research in the field of statistical physics. The question is, why did Maxwell, the millennium old man, never rank ahead of Newton and Einstein?
This question, Yang Zhenning once answered. Physicist Professor Shi Yu once asked Yang Zhenning why he thought Einstein was the great physicist second only to Newton, and Yang Zhenning gave the following answer:
It is worth mentioning that Yang Zhenning is very respectful of Maxwell. Yang Zhenning's most important academic contribution is gauge field theory, and the establishment of gauge field theory has a close relationship with Maxwell's equations. Yang Zhenning has repeatedly focused on Maxwell's equations in his academic reports. From the current point of view, Maxwell gave Maxwell's equations, but he did not see the beautiful geometry in them. Yang Zhenning saw the beautiful geometry in it and gave the gauge field theory. The establishment of gauge field theory and the subsequent great success also made people more aware of the beauty and importance of Maxwell's equations. In fact, the value of Maxwell's equations has been gradually recognized by human beings step by step, and perhaps the value of it can continue to be discovered in the future.
Maxwell originally gave a dozen or so systems of equations, and they were very obscure. Maxwell died in 1879 at the age of 48, the year Einstein was born. Although Maxwell was recognized as a great scientist before his death, the extent of his greatness was not enough at the time. In 1919, when Einstein was 40 years old, Eddington published the results of a total solar eclipse to test for general relativity, which showed that the observations were very consistent with theoretical predictions. Although the theory of relativity has been published for many years, it was at this time that Einstein's true fame began. At that time, the German weekly Berlin Pictorial magazine published a photograph of Einstein with the text "The New Great Man in World History: Albert Einstein, whose research completely subverted the way we see the world, and his discoveries were comparable to Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton." "There is no mention of Maxwell, and you may think that Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton were all great astronomers, but Newton gave Newton's three laws in mechanics in addition to the discovery of gravity. In fact, now Einstein's general theory of relativity and Maxwell's equations are completely comparable. Maxwell's name was not mentioned at the time, and one of the most likely reasons was that the greatness of Maxwell was not as strong as it is now, and it would feel a little abnormal to look at things 100 years ago with today's eyes.
Maxwell's equations may also release new energies, but what about Yang Zhenning's gauge field theory? Normative field theory is also ahead of its time, and Yang Zhenning himself does not see some of its beauty. Over the decades, many groundbreaking and major success theories have been constructed along the lines of gauge fields. A hundred years later, looking at Maxwell and Yang Zhenning's position in the temple of science, it is likely to become different from today.