Maxwell was able to affirm his theory

Many theorists were unable to demonstrate their hypotheses in experiments during their lifetimes, but Maxwell's measurements of the electric power generated by magnetic fields proved his theory values obtained from a displacement current when a magnetic field is activated at the same speed as light. He had to conclude that electromagnetic fields and other such phenomena make up light.

One of his passions, which he first developed while a student at Forbes at the University of Edinburgh, was the nature and perception of color. Maxwell was able to show that white light is a combination of red, green, and blue light using the color gyroscopes created by Forbes. In March 1855, he delivered his article "Color Experiments," which outlined the fundamentals of color matching, to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Maxwell was successful in coming up with it on his own this time.

Maxwell was given the unusual task of preparing lectures on hydrostatics and optics as well as setting up tests when he was appointed a Trinity fellow on October 10th, 1855. Forbes persuaded him to apply to the recently vacant Chair of the Department of Natural Philosophy at Marischal University, Aberdeen in February of the following year. While helping him to get the required references, his father passed away on 2 April in Glenlair before learning the result of Maxwell's candidacy. He left Cambridge in November 1856 and accepted a position as a professor at Aberdeen.