Cavendish Laboratory : Letter from Maxwell to W. Thomson (Lord Kelvin) about the names of electrical units, 10.8.1872
Cavendish Laboratory
<p style='text-align: justify;'>The letter is addressed to OT (Thomson) and signed by dp/dt (= JCM = Maxwell). The story of Mr & Mrs Brown referred to in the text was published in The Times on 8 August, 1872. In his reply of 24th August Thomson agreed that Ohms and Volts had been well established, but he opposes the use of Veber as an electrical dose unit, claiming that it can be replaced by Farads (meaning the charge accumulated on a 1F capacitor when 1V is applied). For more details see: P.M. Harman, 'The scientific letters and papers of James Clerk Maxwell', Vol.II, CUP 1995, p.748. This photograph of the manuscript was probably taken on the occasion of the Maxwell Centenary Celebration in 1931.</p>