AMTA Technical Tour: James Clerk Maxwell Birthplace
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AMTA is proud to provide visits to local institutions of technical interest for the participants of EuCAP 2024. Please note that the tours are complimentary, but registration is required since a limited number of seats is available. The tours will start from and return to the conference center.

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First group:

Friday, March 22 2024

• Departure from Glasgow is for 1pm

• Arrival to Maxwell Birthplace is for 2pm

• Visit lasts until 3.30pm

• Return to Glasgow by 5pm

Second group:

Friday, March 22 2024

• Departure from Glasgow for 2.30pm

• Arrival to Maxwell Brithplace for 3.30pm

• Visit lasts to 5pm

• Return to Glasgow by 6.30pm

Maximum number of participants for each group: 40.

Maxwell Birthplace site (https://clerkmaxwellfoundation.org/):

The house at 14 India Street in Edinburgh's ‘New Town' is the birthplace of James Clerk Maxwell. It is a substantial terrace house, built for Maxwell's father in 1820.

James Clerk Maxwell was born there in 1831. He was only a few months old when the family left Edinburgh to return to Glenlair, their country estate in the south of Scotland; but he came back to Edinburgh to attend school at the Edinburgh Academy and the University of Edinburgh. He inherited the house on his father's death and retained it throughout his life, finally bequeathing it to his wife on his death in 1879.

The James Clerk Maxwell Foundation acquired the house in 1993 and has, to a large extent, retained the original character of the house, while introducing as unobtrusively as possible some alterations that are necessary for its occupancy as a museum and meeting facility, such as central heating, precautions against fire, and security systems. Repairs and restorations were made with the assistance of the Architectural Heritage Fund and the National Heritage Fund.

The former dining room displays memorabilia in the form of portraits, manuscripts, and books associated with Maxwell, his family, and his scientific contemporaries. Descendants on both the paternal and maternal sides of Maxwell's family have donated portraits, furniture, and water colours.

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