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Michael Faraday
Famous People Michael Faraday was the most celebrated British scientist of the 19th century. Know more
about his childhood and life with this biography.

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Grouping of ALSO LISTED IN Chemists, Physicists

People FAMOUS AS Physicist & Chemist

NATIONALITY British Famous British Men
Nationality
RELIGION Presbyterianism

Notable Alumni BORN ON 22 September 1791 AD

BIRTHDAY 22nd September Famous 22nd September Birthdays
Personality Type
DIED AT AGE 75
Zodiac Signs SUN SIGN Virgo Virgo Men
BORN IN Newington Butts
DIED ON 25 August 1867 AD
PLACE OF DEATH Hampton Court Palace
DISEASES & Dyslexia
DISABILITIES
FATHER James Faraday

পৃ া লাইক ক ন MOTHER Margaret Hastwell

SPOUSE/PARTNER: Sarah Barnard
আপনার বন্ধুেদর মেধ আপিনই DISCOVERIES / Electromagnetic Induction, Plane Of Polarization,
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specifically force, interested Faraday the most. It was due to this early reading
and experiments with the idea of force that he was able to make important
discoveries in electricity later in life. To know more about this British chemist and
physicist, read through the following lines.

Early Life
Born in Newington Butts (today a part of the London Borough of Southwark),
Michael Faraday did not come from a very affluent family. His father, James was
a member of the Glassite sect of Christianity. Professionally, James was an
apprentice to the village blacksmith. Third of the four children, young Michael
Faraday received only basic education. In 1804, he served as an errand boy for
the bookseller George Riebau, delivering newspapers among other things, who a
year later, indentured Faraday for a period of seven years. It was during these
seven years of apprenticeship that Faraday read many books, two amongst which
that captured his attention like none others were Isaac Watts', The Improvement
of the Mind and Jane Marcet’s, Conversations on Chemistry. Not only did this
reading activity improve his knowledge and understanding, it also determined his
course of life. Faraday’s keen interest in science, especially in electricity, was
developed herein.

In 1812, at the end of his apprenticeship Faraday was presented tickets to attend
four lectures to be delivered by the eminent professor of chemistry, Humphry
Davy and John Tatum, founder of the City Philosophical Society, at the Royal
Institution, by William Dance, who was a regular customer at Riebau’s and one of
the founders of the Royal Philharmonic Society. Faraday, in an attempt to thank
Davy, sent him a three-hundred pages book which contained notes taken during
the lecture. Later, Faraday bagged a temporary job as a secretary to Davy, when
the latter damaged his eyesight in an accident with nitrogen trichloride. In March
1813, Davy appointed Faraday as Chemical Assistant at the Royal Institution,
after John Payne, one of the Royal Institution's assistants, was sacked.

Things, however, weren’t as smooth for Faraday later as they were until then. In
the long tour that Davy had set out on, from 1813 until 1815, his valet did not
accompany him. As such, Faraday had to fill up for this vacancy. While the tour
did open for Faraday the doors to the scientific elite of Europe and exposed him
to a host of stimulating ideas, the journey wasn’t a very pleasant one. Biased by
classism, Davy’s wife refused to treat Faraday as an equal and made life hell for
Faraday, who, worn out by the torture, even thought of giving up on science
altogether. In the year 1821, Faraday was appointed as the acting superintendent
of the house of the Royal Institution. Top

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Contribution in the Field of Chemistry

Faraday’s earliest contribution to chemistry was while he was working as an
assistant to Davy. He was involved in the study of chlorine. Faraday also
conducted experiments on the diffusion of gases. Additionally, he succeeded in
liquefying several gases, investigating the alloys of steel, and producing several
new kinds of glass intended for optical purposes. One of Faraday’s most notable
works was invention of the earliest form of Bunsen burner (as we call it today),
which is still in use today in the science laboratories around the world as a most
suitable source of heat. His extensive work in the field of chemistry can be found
out from the fact that he discovered the chemical substance benzene, a chemical
compound of carbon and hydrogen. Faraday also discovered two new
compounds in chlorine and carbon. While one is used in smoke grenades, the
other is employed in the arena of dry cleaning, and spot removing.Faraday is also
credited for discovering the laws of electrolysis, and for popularizing terminology
such as anode, cathode, electrode, and ion, for which he took the help of William
Whewell. It is said that Faraday first reported what we today know as metallic
nanoparticles. In 1847, Faraday researched that the optical properties of gold
colloids differed from those of the corresponding bulk metal, and it was this
discovery which marked the birth of nanoscience.

Contribution in the Field of Electricity & Magnetism

Faraday created a storm in the field of electricity and magnetism with his work.
His research in electricity had an enormous influence on the development of
mathematics. Faraday’s first success in the field of electricity came when he
successfully built the first electric motor. The experiments and inventions that he
undertook then, formed the foundation of modern electromagnetic technology.He
continued his laboratory work exploring electromagnetic properties of materials
and developing requisite experience. In an attempt to find out whether a magnetic
field could regulate the flow of a current in an adjacent wire or not, Faraday had
set up a circuit but he found no relationship. The next seven years of Faraday’s
life was dedicated in the arena of optical quality (heavy) glass, borosilicate of
lead, which he used in his future studies connecting light with magnetism.

Two years following Humphry Davy’s death, Faraday got involved in a series of
experiments wherein he discovered electromagnetic induction. However, the
pinnacle came only when he wrapped two insulated coils of wire around an iron
ring, and found that, upon passing a current through one coil, a momentary
current was induced in the other coil, a phenomenon which is today known as
mutual induction. In later experiments, Faraday discovered that a changing
magnetic field produces an electric field. This relation was used by James Clerk
Maxwell later and is today one amongst the four Maxwell equations. Faraday,
afterwards, used these principles to construct the electric dynamo, the precursor
of modern power generators. In the year 1839, Faraday conducted a series of
experiments to examine the fundamental nature of electricity. To produce the
phenomena of electrostatic attraction, electrolysis and magnetism, Faraday used
"static", batteries, and "animal electricity".

When Faraday worked on the theory that electromagnetism flowed into the empty
space around a conductor, a concept at the very base of electromechanics, it was
first rejected but later approved. However, Faraday did not live to see its
acceptance. It was in 1845 that Faraday researched the notionthat many
materials display a weak repulsion from a magnetic field which he termed as
diamagnetism. Additionally, he also discovered the fact that the plane of
polarization of linearly polarized light could be rotated by the application of an Top
external magnetic field aligned in the direction in which the light moved. This

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phenomenon is today termed as Faraday Effect. During his work on static

electricity, Faraday’s experiment displayed that the charge resided only on the
exterior of a charged conductor, and exterior charge had no influence on anything
enclosed within a conductor. This was due to the fact that the exterior charges
redistributed in such a way that the interior fields due to them cancelled. This
protective effect is used in what we now know as a Faraday cage.

Later Life
At the Royal Institution of Great Britain, Faraday was elected a member of the
Royal Society in 1824. The next year, he was appointed director of the laboratory.
Later in 1833, Faraday was bestowed upon with the position, Fullerian Professor
of Chemistry, which he was appointed for life. Apart from the scientific researches
that Faraday undertook at the Royal Institution, he also worked at numerous other
projects given to him by private enterprises and the British government. Faraday
spent a considerable amount of time in the construction and operation of light
houses. He was also active in what is today known as environmental science.
While he aided with the planning and judging of exhibits for the Great Exhibition of
1851 in London, Faraday was also involved in advising the National Gallery on
the cleaning and protection of its art collection.

Michael Faraday was deeply involved in the education sector as well. His series
of lectures on the chemistry and physics of flames at the Royal Institution is still
regarded as one of the earliest Christmas lectures for young minds, a practice
that is still prevalent today. Faraday is known to have given Christmas lectures for
a record nineteen times between 1827 and 1860. For this accomplishment, the
University of Oxford granted Faraday a Doctor of Civil Law degree (honorary) in
June 1832. In1838, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences and later in 1844, Faraday became one of eight foreign
members elected to the French Academy of Sciences. Meanwhile, in his life,
Faraday declined the offer of a knighthood and twice refused the post of the
President of the Royal Society which was offered to him. In 1848, Michael
Faraday was honoured a grace and favour house in Hampton Court in Middlesex,
free of all expenses or upkeep, as a result of representations by the Prince
Consort. Ten years later, he retired and lived there.

Personal Life
The wedding bells for Michael Faraday rang on June 12, 1821. His significant
other, Sarah Barnard, was the daughter of the Sandemanian silversmith, Edward
Barnard. The couple first met through their families at the Sandemanian church.
One month post marriage, Faraday confessed his faith to the Sandemanian
congregation. He served as deacon and for two terms, as an elder in the meeting
house of his youth. His church was located at Paul's Alley in the Barbican. Later,
in 1862, the meeting house was relocated to Barnsbury Grove, Islington which
was where Faraday served the final two years of his second term as elder before
resigning from that post

Death & Legacy

Michael Faraday breathed his last on August 25, 1867 at his house at Hampton
Court. He was buried in the dissenters' (non-Anglican) section of Highgate
Cemetery, after turning down the burial in Westminster Abbey. Nevertheless,
Faraday has a memorial plaque near Newton’s tomb. In order to pay tribute to the
works of this great scientist, a statue of Faraday stands in the Savoy Place,
Top
London, outside the Institution of Engineering and Technology. London also

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houses a memorial in the memory of Faraday, which is situated at the Elephant &
Castle gyratory system, near Faraday’s birthplace at Newington Butts. Designed
by brutalist architect Rodney Gordon, the memorial commemorates Michael
Faraday’s importance as a scientist. Walworth, London not only has a small park
by the name Faraday Gardens, but also a school which is known as Michael
Faraday Primary school. Located on Trinity Buoy Wharf is the Faraday School,
where his workshop stands until today above the Chain and Buoy Store,
alongside London's only lighthouse.

South Bank University’s electrical engineering department is named the Faraday

Wing, due to its proximity to Faraday’s birthplace in Newington Butts. While at the
University of Edinburgh's science & engineering campus, an eight-story building is
named after Faraday, at Brunel University a recently built hall of accommodation
bears his name and so does the main engineering building at Swansea
University, a hall at Loughborough University and the instructional and
experimental physics building at Northern Illinois University. There are a number
of streets in various countries and cities that have been named after this prolific
scientist. From 1991 until 2001, Faraday’s picture featured on the reverse of
Series E £20 banknotes issued by the Bank of England. The picture showcased
him conducting a lecture at the Royal Institution with the magneto-electric spark
apparatus.Faraday grabbed the 22nd position in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest
Britons, following a UK-wide vote, which was conducted in the year 2002.

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MICHAEL FARADAY TIMELINE

1791 :Born in Newington Butts, England

1804 :Served as an errand boy

1805 :Apprenticed with George Riebau for a period of seven years

1812 :End of apprenticeship; Attended four lectures

1813 :Was appointed as Chemical Assistant at the Royal Institution

1821 :Was appointed as the acting superintendent of the house of the Royal
Institution; Married Sarah Barnard

1824 :Was elected as a member of the Royal Society

1825 :Was appointed director of the laboratory

1832 :University of Oxford granted Faraday a Doctor of Civil Law degree

(honorary)

1833 :Was awarded the position, Fullerian Professor of Chemistry, for life

1838 :Was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of

Sciences

1839 :Conducted a series of experiments to examine the fundamental nature

of electricity

1844 :Became one of eight foreign members elected to the French Academy
of Sciences

1847 :Researched that the optical properties of gold colloids differed from Top
those of the corresponding bulk metal

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1848 :Was honoured a grace and favour house in Hampton Court in

Middlesex

1867 :Michael Faraday left for the heavenly abode

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Also Listed In
18th Century | British Scientists | British Physicists | British Chemists

Books by Michael Faraday

Faraday's Diary of Experimental Investigation - 2nd edition, Vol. 3

by Michael Faraday

The Chemical History Of A Candle

by Michael Faraday

Experimental researches in electricity, (Everyman's library. Science)

by Michael Faraday

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Books About Michael Faraday

Michael Faraday and the Electrical Century

by Iwan Morus

Michael Faraday (Trailblazers)

by Bingham Derick

Michael Faraday: A Very Short Introduction

by Frank A.J.L James

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