Following your correspondence about James Clerk Maxwell (Letters, August 8, 9 and 10), it should be noted that in The 100: A Ranking Of The Most Influential Persons In History by the historian and astrophysicist Michael H Hart, published in 1978 and reprinted in 1992, Maxwell is ranked 24th, immediately before Martin Luther.
Indeed, the only Scot placed higher than him is James Watt.
It should also be appreciated that, in addition to his work on electricity, magnetism and optics, Clerk Maxwell also made important contributions to many other fields of science including astronomical theory, thermodynamics and the kinetic theory of gases.
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