A theorem that is the analogue of the divergence theorem for the curl of a vector. Stokes’ theorem states that if a surface S, which is smooth and simply connected (i.e. any closed curve on the surface can be contracted continuously into a point without leaving the surface), is bounded by a line L the vector F defined in S satisfies
Stokes’ theorem was stated by Sir George Gabriel Stokes as a Cambridge examination question, having been raised by Lord Kelvin in a letter to Stokes in 1850.