llipse. Maxwell also defined curves where there were more then two foci. This was Maxwell's first paper "On the description of oval curves and those having a plurality of foci" which was read to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. These ideas were not totally new; yet they were ingenious for a 14 year old to come up with independently. (3)
             By the age of 16 Maxwell had already distinguished himself in some of the most difficult classes in mathematics being taught at the University of Edinburgh. He left that university to obtain a fellowship from Trinity College where he graduated with a degree in mathematics in 1854 at the age of 23. Maxwell taught at Trinity College after his graduation. (3,7)
             It was at this point that Maxwell preformed one of his most important achievements. This achievement was his extension and mathematical formulation of Michael Faraday's theories of electricity and magnetic lines of force. Maxwell showed that a few relatively simple mathematical equations could express the behavior of electric and magnetic fields and their interrelationships; that is, an oscillating electric charge produces an electromagnetic field. The four partial differential equations expressed all the fundamental laws of light, electricity, and magnetism and are commonly known as the "Maxwell Field Equations". These were long considered a fundamental law of the universe, like Newton's laws of motion and gravitation. (6, 3)
             These four equations allowed mathematicians and physicists alike to put a quantitative measurement on all forms of light. Also in developing these equations and the theorie
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