James Clerk Maxwell 1831-1879

The genius of Clerk Maxwell in the area of physics and mathematics is beyond my ability to grasp. But in town this morning I snapped this of the statue erected to him on George Street in 2008.

The son of an Edinburgh architect, he inherited and lived on an estate near Corsock in Kirkcudbrightshire - an area I know well. He was the brightest of stars in the scientific galaxy of early Victorian Britain - at Edinburgh, Cambridge and Aberdeen Universities. He was a leading light, too, in the Church of Scotland. It seems that his great intellectual brilliance was matched with a social awkwardness that pursued him through life.

Henry Dundas, Viscount Melville, is keeping an eye on him from on high!

I've met the sculptor, Sandy Stoddart, on a couple of occasions - an intelligent, friendly artist who cares about life and art. He and I were once almost members of the same Burns Club - but that's a different story.