Evolution of Electromagnetics in the 19th Century

Abstract. Steps leading to the present-day electromagnetic theory made in the 19th Century are briefly reviewed. The progress can be roughly divided in two branches which are called Continental and British Electromagnetics. The former was based on Newton's action-at-a-distance principle and French mathematics while the latter grew from Faraday's contact-action principle, the concept of field lines and physical analogies. Maxwell's field theory and its experimental verification marked the last stage in the process.