Abstract

Maxwell's reasons for introducing displacement current are considered and attention is drawn to a basic error in the formulation of Maxwell's equation of the displacement current between the plates of a capacitor as though it covers all the length of the circuit, which contains the capacitor. It is emphasized that it is sufficient to apply the Biot-Savart law to all the real currents, and to ignore the fallacious idea of displacement current. Thus the troublesome hypothesis of self propagating fileds in Maxwell's theory is comparied with our theory of dipolic particles to interpret the dual view of the nature of light.