This journey will retrace the steps and Reformation heritage of James Clerk Maxwell, a Scottish Presbyterian elder and the greatest mathematical physicist of all time, during the 150th anniversary of his Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism.
The application asked me to explain my need for renewal and reflection. so I wrote...
Even before I took a class at IUPUI in 2002 to renew my teaching license and wrote a research paper on James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879), I had known that he stood with Newton and Einstein as the greatest physicists. I had some of my early physics students who were gifted artists paint a mural of these three scientists back in 1999. In high school I even had a t-shirt with Maxwell’s equations for electromagnetism on it. His work continues to have a profound impact on all the technologies we enjoy today. What inspires me most about Maxwell is how he lived a balanced life, integrating his Christian faith in all he did.
I am in need of this time of renewal. After teaching physics and mathematics in Indiana for the past 27 years, the last 25 of which have been at Covenant Christian High School on the westside of Indianapolis, raising seven kids, coaching, serving as the advisor for our National Honor Society chapter, our rocket team and robotics teams, as well as serving at church, it would be good to have a time of refreshment. If I taught at a larger school it is likely I would teach the same class several times a day, but at Covenant I teach 6 different classes of various levels of calculus, physics and robotics.
As my children are getting older, this would be the perfect time to enjoy this trip. In 2008, with the help of the Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship, I was able to enjoy a month in Cape Canaveral exploring the Kennedy Space Center and celebrating NASA’s 50th anniversary. It was a trip that my family still remembers vividly to this day. We’ve talked over the years, what I should do if I ever got the grant again and they have always said, “go to Scotland.”
I long to visit the memorials to Maxwell at the old Kirk in Parton, Scotland where he and his wife are buried and the stained glass memorial at the church in Corsock. As Mahon describes on page 175, I plan to make the half mile walk to find Glenlair, Maxwell’s home. Maxwell, like myself, served as a Presbyterian elder. This trip in the summer of 2023 will work out perfectly with a scheduled Scottish Reformation Tour at the end of June to the beginning of July that includes all accommodation, transport, meals, etc. When my children were young, I would read them the Crown and Covenant series detailing the history of the Scottish Covenanters in a fictional narrative. I’ve long dreamed of exploring this land and learning from Scots about their history.
In addition to these walks, I will allow for refreshment and time for reflection by enjoying another of my favorite activities: paddling. Scotland abounds in beautiful lakes, or lochs, like “The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond.” I will also read J.G. Vos’s “The Scottish Covenanters”, the Mahon book on Maxwell’s science and legacy and original works by Maxwell and his contemporaries and record highlights from these reflections with blog and social media posts.
At the time of the writing of this proposal I am about the age of Maxwell when he died. I pray it will be able to be said of me what James Clerk Maxwell’s doctor wrote in his professional note to a specialist who cared for Maxwell at his death, “I must say he is one of the best men I have ever met, and a greater merit than his scientific achievement is his being, a most perfect example of a Christian Gentleman.” I will follow in Maxwell’s steps and nurture growth by reading Scripture, singing Psalms, and as Mahon records “conduct evening prayers for the whole household” (pg 171).
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