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===Marischal College, Aberdeen, 1856–1860===
[[File:Saturn HST 2004-03-22.jpg|thumb|left|Maxwell pruvis, ke la [[Ringoj de Saturno]] estas faritaj el multnombraj malgrandaj partikloj.]]
TheLa 25-year-oldjaraĝa Maxwell was a goodestis 15 yearsjarojn youngerpli thanjuna anyol otherajna professorprofesoro aten ''Marischal''. He engaged himself with hisLi newengaĝiĝis responsibilitiespor assiaj headnovaj ofrespondecoj akiel departmentdepartamentestro, devisingdesegnante thelernolibrojn syllabuskaj andpreparante preparing lecturesklasojn.<ref name="Mahon_p 69-71">{{harvnb|Mahon|2003|pp=69–71}}</ref> HeLi committeddevigis himselfsin tomem lecturingfari klasojn 15 hourshorojn a weeksemajne, including ainklude weeklyĉiusemajnan ''[[pro bono]]'' lectureklason topor thela localla workinglernejo men'sde lokaj collegelaboristoj.<ref name="Mahon_p 69-71"/> HeLi livedloĝis inen Aberdeen withkun hissia cousinkuzo [[William Dyce Cay]], a Scottishskota civilcivila engineerinĝeniero, duringdum thela sixses monthsmonatoj ofde thela academicakademia yearjaro andkaj spentpasigis thela summerssomerojn aten Glenlair, whichkion heli hadestis inheritedheredinta fromel hissia fatherpatro.<ref name="preface"/>
[[File:JamesClerkMaxwell-KatherineMaxwell-1869.jpg|thumb|upright|James kaj Katherine Maxwell, 1869.]]
HeLi focusedfokusis hissian attentionatenton onal aproblemo problemkiun thatestis hadevitante eludedsciencistojn scientists fordum 200 yearsjaroj: thenome naturela ofnaturo de la nomitaj [[RingsRingoj of Saturn|Saturn'sde ringsSaturno]]. ItOni wasne unknownkonis howkiel theyili couldpovis remainresti stablestabilaj withoutsen breaking uprompiĝi, driftingfordrivante awayaŭ orfrapante crashingen into Saturn[[Saturno]]n.<ref>{{harvnb|Harman|1998|pp=48–53}}</ref> TheLa problemproblemo tookvenis onal apartikulara particulargravo resonanceen attiu thatepoko time becauseĉar ''[[St John's College, Cambridge(Kembriĝo)|St John's College]]'' hadestis chosenelektinta itĝin askiel thetemo topicpor forla the 1857premio [[Adams Prize]]de 1857.<ref name="oxford_508">{{harvnb|Harman|2004|p=508}}</ref> Maxwell devoteddediĉis twodu yearsjarojn toal studyingla thestudado problemde la problemo, provingprovante thatke aregula regularsolida solidringo ringne couldpovas notresti be stablestabila, while a fluiddum ringlikva wouldringo beestus forceddevigita byal waveonda actionagado tokaj breakal uprompiĝo intoen blobsgutoj. Since neither was observed, he concluded that the rings must be composed of numerous small particles he called "brick-bats", each independently orbiting Saturn.<ref name="oxford_508"/> Maxwell was awarded the £130 Adams Prize in 1859 for his essay "On the stability of the motion of Saturn's rings";<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/onstabilityofmot00maxw |title=On the stability of the motion of Saturn's rings |accessdate=24 March 2014 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150616221114/https://archive.org/details/onstabilityofmot00maxw |archivedate=16 June 2015 }}</ref> he was the only entrant to have made enough headway to submit an entry.<ref>{{harvnb|Mahon|2003|p=75}}</ref> His work was so detailed and convincing that when [[George Biddell Airy]] read it he commented "It is one of the most remarkable applications of mathematics to physics that I have ever seen."<ref name=mactutor/> It was considered the final word on the issue until direct observations by the ''[[Voyager program|Voyager]]'' flybys of the 1980s confirmed Maxwell's prediction that the rings were composed of particles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://digital.nls.uk/scientists/biographies/james-clerk-maxwell/index.html |title=James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) |publisher=National Library of Scotland |accessdate=27 August 2013 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006063943/http://digital.nls.uk/scientists/biographies/james-clerk-maxwell/index.html |archivedate=6 October 2013 }}</ref> It is now understood, however, that the rings' particles are not stable at all, being pulled by gravity onto Saturn. The rings are expected to vanish entirely over the next 300 million years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://earthsky.org/space/saturns-rings-disappearing-ring-rain-video |title=Goodbye to Saturn's Rings |publisher=EarthSky |accessdate=20 February 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 1857 Maxwell befriended the Reverend Daniel Dewar, who was then the Principal of Marischal.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stanford.edu/group/auden/cgi-bin/auden/individual.php?pid=I20494&ged=auden-bicknell.ged |title=Very Rev. Daniel Dewar DD (I20494) |publisher=Stanford University |accessdate=27 August 2013}}</ref> Through him Maxwell met Dewar's daughter, [[Katherine Clerk Maxwell|Katherine Mary Dewar]]. They were engaged in February 1858 and married in Aberdeen on 2 June 1858. On the marriage record, Maxwell is listed as Professor of Natural Philosophy in Marischal College, Aberdeen.<ref>James Clerk Maxwell and Katherine Mary Dewar marriage certificate, Family History Library film #280176, district 168/2 (Old Machar, Aberdeen), page 83, certificate No. 65.</ref> Seven years Maxwell's senior, comparatively little is known of Katherine, although it is known that she helped in his lab and worked on experiments in [[viscosity]].<ref>{{harvnb|Maxwell|2001|p=351}}</ref> Maxwell's biographer and friend, Lewis Campbell, adopted an uncharacteristic reticence on the subject of Katherine, though describing their married life as "one of unexampled devotion".<ref>{{harvnb|Tolstoy|1982|pp=88–91}}</ref>
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