Maxwellisation

English

WOTD – 10 June 2023

Etymology

Scottish scientist James Clerk Maxwell first formulated what is now called the Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution in 1860, from which Maxwellisation (sense 1) is derived.

The British media proprietor and fraudster Robert Maxwell lent his name to Maxwellisation (sense 2).

From Maxwell +‎ -isation (suffix forming nouns denoting the act, process, or result of doing something).

Sense 1 is named after the Scottish scientist James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) who first formulated what is now called the Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution, a probability distribution originally used for describing particle speeds in idealized gases, in 1860. Sense 2 is named after the British media proprietor and fraudster Robert Maxwell (1923–1991) who brought a court case in respect of a 1969 British government report that was critical of his conduct. The Court of Appeal of England and Wales held that he should have been shown the draft final conclusions of the inquiry so that he could respond to them.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌmækswɛlɪˈzeɪʃn̩/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌmækswɛləˈzeɪʃən/
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən
• Hyphenation: Max‧well‧is‧at‧ion

Noun

Maxwellisation (uncountable)

2. (physics) The property of exhibiting a Maxwellian distribution (or Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution), especially as regards the speed of a particle.

   Maxwellisation of high-energy electrons

4. (British, law) A process whereby a person criticized in an official inquiry is given an opportunity to read and respond to the criticisms before the report of the inquiry is published.

Alternative forms

• Maxwellization (American spelling, Oxford British English)

Translations

property of exhibiting a Maxwellian distribution, especially as regards the speed of a particle

• Finnish: Maxwellin–Boltzmannin jakauman omaksuminen
• Galician: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: please add this translation if you can

process whereby a person criticized in an official inquiry is given an opportunity to read and respond to the criticisms before the report of the inquiry is published

• Finnish: tutkinnan arvostelun lukeminen ennalta
• Galician: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: максвелиза́ција f (maksvelizácija)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: максвелизација f

  Roman: maksvelizacija f

• Ukrainian: Максвелізація (Maksvelizacija)

Further reading

• Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Maxwellisation on Wikipedia.Wikipedia