Editing Epiphenomenon (section)

===Electromagnetism===
Although [[electronics]] is said to be due to the influence of [[electron]]s, the standard approach to the study of electrical phenomena due to [[James Clerk Maxwell]] views these particles as secondary:
{{blockquote|text=In [[A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism|Maxwell's theory]], [[electric charge|charge]] and [[electric current|current]] are 'epiphenomena' (secondary appearances) of underlying processes in what he termed, following [[Michael Faraday|Faraday]], the [[electric field|electric]] and [[magnetic field]]s. Indeed, Maxwell's mature theory stays completely away from microstructure of matter and from any consideration of ‘electric substance’. Instead he proposed that certain quantities should be defined at every point in space, such that relations between them (the [[Maxwell equations]]) and functions of them (such as energy functions) determine phenomena. These quantities (the [[vector field|fields]]) may depend on microphysical events, and indeed Maxwell did expend some effort in his early papers on attempting to explain qualitatively how their relations could result in mechanical motions. However, the theory explains only large-scale phenomena, and it is not necessary to have the microscopic model in mind in order to work successfully with it.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Archibald |first=Thomas |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/25709298 |title=Companion encyclopedia of the history and philosophy of the mathematical sciences |date=1994 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-03785-9 |editor-last=Grattan-Guinness |editor-first=Ivor |volume=2 |location=London |page=1216 |chapter=Mathematical theories of electricity and magnetism to 1900 |oclc=25709298}}</ref>}}