Maxwell published his groundbreaking paper on the kinetic theory of gases, introducing the Maxwell distribution, which describes the distribution of velocities of molecules in a gas at a given temperature. This was a significant step in understanding the statistical behavior of gases.

Maxwell continued to refine his theory, addressing the effects of intermolecular forces and viscosity. He also proposed the idea of 'Maxwell's demon,' a thought experiment that challenged the second law of thermodynamics, generating considerable discussion and debate among physicists.

Though it came after Maxwell's death, his work, in collaboration and with subsequent refinement by Boltzmann, produced the Boltzmann-Maxwell distribution, a fundamental principle in statistical mechanics that describes the probability distribution of particles in a system as a function of energy and temperature. This laid the foundation for understanding the behavior of macroscopic systems from a microscopic perspective.