How much detail is required in relation to the prediction from Maxwell’s equations about the speed of light?
No mathematical detail is required. Students should understand that Maxwell used the laws of electromagnetism to deduce that electromagnetic waves would propagate through space at a speed related only to the electric and magnetic constants. This speed was the speed of light. As with other waves, it was expected that light would require a medium through which to travel. However, as light can travel through a vacuum this was an unknown medium (referred to as the aether) which would have to permeate the whole of space. This leads to a clash with the classical principle of relativity (see Frequently Asked Question 2). The purpose of Michelson and Morley’s famous experiment was to show whether or not there was an aether.
