Cavendish Laboratory : Maxwell's model of Saturn's rings (1857)
Cavendish Laboratory
<p style='text-align: justify;'>Photograph of Maxwell's 1857 model of Saturn's rings which was built by the instrument maker Ramage of Aberdeen working to Maxwell's design. The model shows the epicyclic motion of the particles of Saturn's rings about the mean circular orbit. Maxwell showed that there are stable prograde and retrograde motions. This has become the standard model for protoplanetary discs.</p>