The treatise is said to be notoriously hard to read, containing plenty of ideas but lacking both the clear focus and orderliness that may have allowed it catch on more easily. It was noted by one historian of science that Maxwell's attempt at a comprehensive treatise on all of electrical science tended to bury the important results of his work under "long accounts of miscellaneous phenomena discussed from several points of view." He goes on to say that, outside the treatment of the Faraday effect, Maxwell failed to expound on his earlier work, especially the generation of electromagnetic waves and the derivation of the laws governing reflection and refraction.