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blue plaque · Aberdeen

James Clerk Maxwell

Photograph at the James Clerk Maxwell blue plaque

Katherine Mary Clerk Maxwell, born Katherine Dewar in 1824, is remembered as the wife of the renowned Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell. Their life together began with their marriage in Aberdeen in 1858. During the 1850s and 1860s, Katherine provided significant support in her husband's scientific endeavors, assisting with his research into colour vision and his investigations into the properties of gases.

Her contributions, though perhaps lesser-known than her husband's, were integral to the period of his scientific advancements. Born in Glasgow, her life spanned a significant era of scientific discovery, and her role as a supportive partner highlights the often unsung collaborations that underpin major breakthroughs.

Original summary by TributeLegacy, informed by public sources.

Source: Open Plaques. Geographic data via OpenStreetMap.

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Data sources

Location records are drawn from open, licence-clean datasets, kept here with attribution and gratitude to the people who maintain them.

  • Open Plaques, dedicated to the public domain (CC0). See openplaques.org.
  • Wikidata, available under the CC0 1.0 Universal dedication.
  • © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence.
  • Historic England, National Heritage List for England, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. War memorial records are drawn from open community datasets (OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, NHLE) - never from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which is excluded.

Editorial descriptions, photography and tribute links are original TributeLegacy work, layered on top of the open data.

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