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Inspiring Brilliance: Maxwell's Genius
James Clerk Maxwell ranks alongside Newton and Einstein as one of the world’s great physicists. In designating this year as the International Year of Light, UNESCO explicitly highlight the importance of 2015 as marking the 150th anniversary of the publication of Maxwell’s Equations. Maxwell’s impact extends well beyond this outstanding contribution; to enabling developments in colour theory, colour photography, statistical physics, information theory, Saturn’s rings, mechanical stress analysis and control theory. In this meeting, organised by the Royal Society of Edinburgh and being held in its historic premises, we bring together many eminent speakers to explore the legacy of Maxwell’s genius today, which continues to impact on many scientific and technological aspects of our modern society, from mobile phones and cybernetics to the discovery of the Higgs boson. The talks will be accessible to a wide audience.
This event is supported by the James Clerk Maxwell Foundation and the University of Edinburgh.
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IEEE.tv Live Streaming Supported by the
Electromagnetic Compatibility Society
Thursday 12 November 18.00-19.15
Our Travels Through Time: Envisioning historical waves of technological innovation
Professor Lynn Conway, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Emerita, University of Michigan, will be presented with the 2015 IEEE/RSE James Clerk Maxwell Medal, supported by Cirrus Logic at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, “for contributions to and leadership in design methodology and pedagogy enabling rapid advances and dissemination of VLSI design tools and systems.” The James Clerk Maxwell Medal is one of the highest awards presented by IEEE.
In this talk, Lynn reflects on past waves of technological innovation, from the Age of Discovery to the Industrial Revolution, and from the sudden spread of AC electrification to the emergence of microelectronics, computers and the internet. She’ll then help us glimpse the incoming tsunami of innovation … now just over the time-horizon of the emerging Social Age … as we embed ever tinier, ever more empowering modular-microsystems into, and thus creatively animate and socially connect with, almost everything.
This event is supported by Cirrus Logic.