Michael_Faraday
Michael_Faraday
At the age of 14, he became an apprentice to George Riebau, a local bookbinder and bookseller in
Blandford Street.[12] During his seven-year apprenticeship Faraday read many books, including Isaac
Watts's The Improvement of the Mind, and he enthusiastically implemented the principles and suggestions
contained therein.[13] During this period, Faraday held discussions with his peers in the City
Philosophical Society, where he attended lectures about various scientific topics.[14] He also developed an
interest in science, especially in electricity. Faraday was particularly inspired by the book Conversations
on Chemistry by Jane Marcet.[15][16]
Adult life
In 1812, at the age of 20 and at the end of his apprenticeship, Faraday attended lectures by the eminent
English chemist Humphry Davy of the Royal Institution and the Royal Society, and John Tatum, founder
of the City Philosophical Society. Many of the tickets for these lectures were given to Faraday by William
Dance, who was one of the founders of the Royal Philharmonic Society. Faraday subsequently sent Davy
a 300-page book based on notes that he had taken during these lectures. Davy's reply was immediate,
kind, and favourable. In 1813, when Davy damaged his eyesight in an accident with nitrogen trichloride,
he decided to employ Faraday as an assistant. Coincidentally one of the
Royal Institution's assistants, John Payne, was sacked and Sir Humphry
Davy had been asked to find a replacement; thus he appointed Faraday as
Chemical Assistant at the Royal Institution on 1 March 1813.[2] Very
soon, Davy entrusted Faraday with the preparation of nitrogen trichloride
samples, and they both were injured in an explosion of this very sensitive
substance.[17]
Later life
In June 1832, the University of Oxford granted Faraday an
honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree. During his lifetime, he was
offered a knighthood in recognition for his services to science,
which he turned down on religious grounds, believing that it was
against the word of the Bible to accumulate riches and pursue
worldly reward, and stating that he preferred to remain "plain Mr
Faraday to the end".[22] Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in
1824, he twice refused to become President.[23] He became the
first Fullerian Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution in Three Fellows of the Royal Society
1833.[24] offering the presidency to Faraday
(right) in 1857
In 1832, Faraday was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[25] He was elected a
foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1838. In 1840, he was elected to the
American Philosophical Society.[26] He was one of eight foreign members elected to the French Academy
of Sciences in 1844.[27] In 1849 he was elected as associated member to the Royal Institute of the
Netherlands, which two years later became the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and he
was subsequently made foreign member.[28]
Faraday had a nervous breakdown in 1839 but eventually returned to his investigations into
electromagnetism.[29] In 1848, as a result of representations by the Prince Consort, Faraday was awarded
a grace and favour house in Hampton Court in Middlesex, free of all expenses and upkeep. This was the
Master Mason's House, later called Faraday House, and now No. 37 Hampton Court Road. In 1858
Faraday retired to live there.[30]
Having provided a number of
various service projects for the
British government, when asked by
the government to advise on the
production of chemical weapons
for use in the Crimean War (1853–
1856), Faraday refused to
participate, citing ethical
reasons. [31] He also refused offers
Faraday House in Hampton Court
where Faraday lived between 1858 to publish his lectures, believing
and 1867 that they would lose impact if not
accompanied by the live
experiments. His reply to an offer
Faraday's grave at
from a publisher in a letter ends with: "I have always loved science more Highgate Cemetery, London
than money & because my occupation is almost entirely personal I cannot
afford to get rich."[32]
Faraday died at his house at Hampton Court on 25 August 1867, aged 75.[33] He had some years before
turned down an offer of burial in Westminster Abbey upon his death, but he has a memorial plaque there,
near Isaac Newton's tomb.[34] Faraday was interred in the dissenters' (non-Anglican) section of Highgate
Cemetery.[35]
Scientific achievements
Chemistry
Faraday's earliest chemical work was as an assistant to Humphry Davy.
Faraday was involved in the study of chlorine; he discovered two new
compounds of chlorine and carbon: hexachloroethane which he made via
the chlorination of ethylene and carbon tetrachloride from the
decomposition of the former. He also conducted the first rough
experiments on the diffusion of gases, a phenomenon that was first
pointed out by John Dalton. The physical importance of this
phenomenon was more fully revealed by Thomas Graham and Joseph
Loschmidt. Faraday succeeded in liquefying several gases, investigated
the alloys of steel, and produced several new kinds of glass intended for
optical purposes. A specimen of one of these heavy glasses subsequently
became historically important; when the glass was placed in a magnetic
field Faraday determined the rotation of the plane of polarisation of
Equipment used by Faraday light. This specimen was also the first substance found to be repelled by
to make glass on display at the poles of a magnet.[36][37]
the Royal Institution in
London Faraday invented an early form of what was to become the Bunsen
burner, which is still in practical use in science laboratories around the
world as a convenient source of heat.[38][39] Faraday worked extensively
in the field of chemistry, discovering chemical substances such as benzene (which he called bicarburet of
hydrogen) and liquefying gases such as chlorine. The liquefying of gases helped to establish that gases
are the vapours of liquids possessing a very low boiling point and gave a more solid basis to the concept
of molecular aggregation. In 1820 Faraday reported the first synthesis of compounds made from carbon
and chlorine, C2Cl6 and CCl4, and published his results the following year.[40][41][42] Faraday also
determined the composition of the chlorine clathrate hydrate, which had been discovered by Humphry
Davy in 1810.[43][44] Faraday is also responsible for discovering the laws of electrolysis, and for
popularising terminology such as anode, cathode, electrode, and ion, terms proposed in large part by
William Whewell.[45]
Faraday was the first to report what later came to be called metallic nanoparticles. In 1847 he discovered
that the optical properties of gold colloids differed from those of the corresponding bulk metal. This was
probably the first reported observation of the effects of quantum size, and might be considered to be the
birth of nanoscience.[46]
In 1821, soon after the Danish physicist and chemist Hans Christian
Ørsted discovered the phenomenon of electromagnetism, Davy and
William Hyde Wollaston tried, but failed, to design an electric motor.[3]
Faraday, having discussed the problem with the two men, went on to build
two devices to produce what he called "electromagnetic rotation". One of
these, now known as the homopolar motor, caused a continuous circular
motion that was engendered by the circular magnetic force around a wire
that extended into a pool of mercury wherein was placed a magnet; the
wire would then rotate around the magnet if supplied with current from a
Electromagnetic rotation
chemical battery. These experiments and inventions formed the foundation
experiment of Faraday,
of modern electromagnetic technology. In his excitement, Faraday
1821, the first
demonstration of the published results without acknowledging his work with either Wollaston
conversion of electrical or Davy. The resulting controversy within the Royal Society strained his
energy into motion[48] mentor relationship with Davy and may well have contributed to Faraday's
assignment to other activities, which consequently prevented his
involvement in electromagnetic research for several years.[49][50]
From his initial discovery in 1821, Faraday continued his laboratory work, exploring electromagnetic
properties of materials and developing requisite experience. In 1824, Faraday briefly set up a circuit to
study whether a magnetic field could regulate the flow of a current in an adjacent wire, but he found no
such relationship.[51] This experiment followed similar work conducted with light and magnets three
years earlier that yielded identical results.[52][53] During the next seven years, Faraday spent much of his
time perfecting his recipe for optical quality (heavy) glass, borosilicate of lead,[54] which he used in his
future studies connecting light with magnetism.[55] In his spare time, Faraday continued publishing his
experimental work on optics and electromagnetism; he conducted
correspondence with scientists whom he had met on his journeys
across Europe with Davy, and who were also working on
electromagnetism.[56] Two years after the death of Davy, in 1831,
he began his great series of experiments in which he discovered
electromagnetic induction, recording in his laboratory diary on 28
October 1831 that he was "making many experiments with the
great magnet of the Royal Society".[57]
One of Faraday's 1831 experiments
Faraday's breakthrough came when he wrapped two insulated coils
demonstrating induction. The liquid
of wire around an iron ring, and found that, upon passing a current battery (right) sends an electric
through one coil, a momentary current was induced in the other current through the small coil (A).
coil.[3] This phenomenon is now known as mutual inductance.[58] When it is moved in or out of the
The iron ring-coil apparatus is still on display at the Royal large coil (B), its magnetic field
Institution. In subsequent experiments, he found that if he moved a induces a momentary voltage in the
magnet through a loop of wire an electric current flowed in that coil, which is detected by the
galvanometer (G).
wire. The current also flowed if the loop was moved over a
stationary magnet. His
demonstrations established that a
changing magnetic field produces
an electric field; this relation was
modelled mathematically by James
Clerk Maxwell as Faraday's law, A diagram of Faraday's iron ring-coil
which subsequently became one of apparatus
the four Maxwell equations, and
Built in 1831, the Faraday which have in turn evolved into the
disc was the first electric
generalization known today as field theory.[59] Faraday would later use the
generator. The horseshoe-
shaped magnet (A) created
principles he had discovered to construct the electric dynamo, the ancestor
a magnetic field through the of modern power generators and the electric motor.[60]
disc (D). When the disc was
turned, this induced an In 1832, he completed a series of
electric current radially experiments aimed at investigating the
outward from the centre fundamental nature of electricity; Faraday
toward the rim. The current used "static", batteries, and "animal
flowed out through the
electricity" to produce the phenomena of
sliding spring contact m,
electrostatic attraction, electrolysis,
through the external circuit,
and back into the centre of magnetism, etc. He concluded that,
the disc through the axle. contrary to the scientific opinion of the
time, the divisions between the various
"kinds" of electricity were illusory. Faraday (right) and John
Faraday instead proposed that only a single "electricity" exists, and the Daniell (left), founders of
changing values of quantity and intensity (current and voltage) would electrochemistry
produce different groups of phenomena.[3]
Near the end of his career, Faraday proposed that electromagnetic forces extended into the empty space
around the conductor.[59] This idea was rejected by his fellow scientists, and Faraday did not live to see
the eventual acceptance of his proposition by the scientific community. It would be another half a century
before electricity was used in technology, with the West End's Savoy Theatre, fitted with the incandescent
light bulb developed by Sir Joseph Swan, the first public building in the world to be lit by
electricity.[61][62] As recorded by the Royal Institution, "Faraday invented the generator in 1831 but it
took nearly 50 years before all the technology, including Joseph Swan's incandescent filament light bulbs
used here, came into common use".[63]
Diamagnetism
In 1845, Faraday discovered that many materials exhibit a weak repulsion
from a magnetic field: an effect he termed diamagnetism.[65]
Faraday cage
In his work on static electricity, Faraday's ice pail experiment demonstrated 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 is because the exterior charges redistribute such that the interior fields emanating from
them cancel one another. This shielding effect is used in what is now known as a Faraday cage.[59] In
January 1836, Faraday had put a wooden frame, 12 ft square, on four glass supports and added paper
walls and wire mesh. He then stepped inside and electrified it. When he stepped out of his electrified
cage, Faraday had shown that electricity was a force, not an imponderable fluid as was believed at the
time.[4]
Commemorations
A statue of Michael Faraday stands in Savoy Place, London, outside
the Institution of Engineering and Technology. The Faraday
Memorial, designed by brutalist architect Rodney Gordon and
completed in 1961, is at the Elephant & Castle gyratory system, near
Faraday's birthplace at Newington Butts, London. Faraday School is
located on Trinity Buoy Wharf where his workshop still stands above
the Chain and Buoy Store, next to London's only lighthouse.[85]
Faraday Gardens is a small park in Walworth, London, not far from
his birthplace at Newington Butts. It lies within the local council
ward of Faraday in the London Borough of Southwark. Michael
Faraday Primary school is situated on the Aylesbury Estate in
Walworth.[86]
A building at London South Bank University, which houses the Statue of Faraday in Savoy
institute's electrical engineering departments is named the Faraday Place, London. Sculptor John
Wing, due to its proximity to Faraday's birthplace in Newington Henry Foley.
Butts. A hall at Loughborough University was named after Faraday in
1960. Near the entrance to its dining hall is a bronze casting, which
depicts the symbol of an electrical transformer, and inside there hangs a portrait, both in Faraday's
honour. An eight-storey building at the University of Edinburgh's science & engineering campus is named
for Faraday, as is a recently built hall of accommodation at Brunel University, the main engineering
building at Swansea University, and the instructional and experimental physics building at Northern
Illinois University. The former UK Faraday Station in Antarctica was named after him.[87]
Streets named for Faraday can be found in many British cities (e.g.,
Without such freedom London, Fife, Swindon, Basingstoke, Nottingham, Whitby, Kirkby,
there would have been Crawley, Newbury, Swansea, Aylesbury and Stevenage) as well as in
no Shakespeare, no France (Paris), Germany (Berlin-Dahlem, Hermsdorf), Canada (Quebec
Goethe, no Newton, no City, Quebec; Deep River, Ontario; Ottawa, Ontario), the United States
Faraday, no Pasteur and (The Bronx, New York and Reston, Virginia), Australia (Carlton,
no Lister. Victoria), and New Zealand (Hawke's Bay).[89][90][91]
The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion derives its name from the scientist, who saw his faith as
integral to his scientific research. The logo of the institute is also based on Faraday's discoveries. It was
created in 2006 by a $2,000,000 grant from the John Templeton Foundation to carry out academic
research, to foster understanding of the interaction between science and religion, and to engage public
understanding in both these subject areas.[97][98]
The Faraday Institution, an independent energy storage research institute established in 2017, also derives
its name from Michael Faraday.[99] The organisation serves as the UK's primary research programme to
advance battery science and technology, education, public engagement and market research.[99]
Faraday's life and contributions to electromagnetics was the principal topic of the tenth episode, titled
"The Electric Boy", of the 2014 American science documentary series, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey,
which was broadcast on Fox and the National Geographic Channel.[100]
The writer Aldous Huxley wrote about Faraday in an essay entitled, A Night in Pietramala: "He is always
the natural philosopher. To discover truth is his sole aim and interest ... even if I could be Shakespeare, I
think I should still choose to be Faraday."[101] Calling Faraday her "hero", in a speech to the Royal
Society, Margaret Thatcher declared: "The value of his work must be higher than the capitalisation of all
the shares on the Stock Exchange!" She borrowed his bust from the Royal Institution and had it placed in
the hall of 10 Downing Street.[4]
Gallery
Bibliography
Faraday's books, with the exception of Chemical Manipulation, were
collections of scientific papers or transcriptions of lectures.[106] Since his
death, Faraday's diary has been published, as have several large volumes
of his letters and Faraday's journal from his travels with Davy in 1813–
1815.
See also
Faraday (unit) – Physical constant: Electric charge of one mole of electrons
Forensic engineering – Investigation of failures associated with legal intervention
Nikola Tesla – Serbian-American engineer and inventor (1856–1943)
Timeline of hydrogen technologies
Timeline of low-temperature technology
Zeeman effect – Spectral line splitting in magnetic field
References
1. Rao, C.N.R. (2000). Understanding Chemistry. Universities Press. ISBN 81-7371-250-6. p.
281.
2. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Faraday, Michael" (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encycl
op%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Faraday,_Michael). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.).
Cambridge University Press. pp. 173–175. the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.
3. "Archives Michael Faraday biography – The IET" (http://www.theiet.org/resources/library/arc
hives/biographies/faraday.cfm). theiet.org.
4. "The Faraday cage: from Victorian experiment to Snowden-era paranoia" (https://www.thegu
ardian.com/science/2017/may/22/michael-faraday-lost-better-call-saul-genius). The
Guardian. 22 May 2017.
5. Maxwell, James Clerk (2003). Niven, W. D. (ed.). The Scientific Papers of James Clerk
Maxwell, Vol. II (https://books.google.com/books?id=RaqhIhxqLiwC&pg=PA360). Dover
Publications. ISBN 978-0-486-49561-3.
6. "How British scientists inspired and ensured Einstein's place in history" (https://www.science
focus.com/science/how-british-scientists-inspired-and-ensured-einsteins-place-in-history).
BBC Science. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
7. James, Frank A. J. L. (2011) [2004]. "Faraday, Michael (1791–1867)". Oxford Dictionary of
National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/9153 (https://
doi.org/10.1093%2Fref%3Aodnb%2F9153). (Subscription or UK public library membership (htt
ps://www.oxforddnb.com/help/subscribe#public) required.)
8. For a concise account of Faraday's life including his childhood, see pp. 175–183 of Every
Saturday: A Journal of Choice Reading, Vol III published at Cambridge in 1873 by Osgood &
Co.
9. Jerrold, Walter (2018). Michael Faraday: Man of Science. Books on Demand.
ISBN 3734011124. p. 11.
10. The implication is that James discovered job opportunities elsewhere through membership
of this sect. James joined the London meeting house on 20 February 1791, and moved his
family shortly thereafter. See Cantor, pp. 57–58.
11. "Answers about Michael Faraday" (https://www.answers.com/t/michael-faraday). Answers.
Retrieved 23 February 2023.
12. Plaque #19 on Open Plaques (https://openplaques.org/plaques/19)
13. Jenkins, Alice (2008). Michael Faraday's Mental Exercises: An Artisan Essay-Circle in
Regency London (https://archive.org/details/michaelfaradaysm00jenk). Oxford University
Press. p. 213 (https://archive.org/details/michaelfaradaysm00jenk/page/n227). ISBN 978-
1846311406.
14. James, Frank (1992). "Michael Faraday, The City Philosophical Society and The Society of
Arts" (http://www.jstor.org/stable/41378130). RSA Journal. 140 (5426): 192–199.
JSTOR 41378130 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/41378130).
15. Lienhard, John H. (1992). "Michael Faraday". The Engines of Our Ingenuity. Episode 741.
NPR. KUHF-FM Houston. No 741: Michael Faraday (transcript) (http://www.uh.edu/engines/
epi741.htm).
16. Lienhard, John H. (1992). "Jane Marcet's Books". The Engines of Our Ingenuity. Episode
744. NPR. KUHF-FM Houston. No 744: Jane Marcet's Books (transcript) (http://www.uh.ed
u/engines/epi744.htm).
17. Thomas, p. 17
18. The register at St. Faith-in-the-Virgin near St. Paul's Cathedral, records 12 June as the date
their licence was issued. The witness was Sarah's father, Edward. Their marriage was 16
years prior to the Marriage and Registration Act of 1837. See Cantor, p. 59.
19. Cantor, pp. 41–43, 60–64, 277–280.
20. Paul's Alley was located 10 houses south of the Barbican. See p. 330 Elmes's (1831)
Topographical Dictionary of the British Metropolis.
21. Baggott, Jim (2 September 1991). "The myth of Michael Faraday: Michael Faraday was not
just one of Britain's greatest experimenters. A closer look at the man and his work reveals
that he was also a clever theoretician" (https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13117874.6
00-the-myth-of-michael-faraday-michael-faraday-was-not-justone-of-britains-greatest-experi
menters-a-closer-look-at-the-man-and-hiswork-reveals-that-he-was-also-a-clever-theoreticia
n-.html). New Scientist. Retrieved 6 September 2008.
22. West, Krista (2013). The Basics of Metals and Metalloids. Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 1-
4777-2722-1. p. 81.
23. Todd Timmons (2012). "Makers of Western Science: The Works and Words of 24
Visionaries from Copernicus to Watson and Crick". p. 127.
24. "Faraday appointed first Fullerian Professor of Chemistry" (https://web.archive.org/web/2020
0805222946/https://www.rigb.org/whats-on/events-2014/february/fact--faraday-appointment-
fullerian-prof-of-chemistry). The Royal Institution. 16 October 2017. Archived from the
original (http://www.rigb.org/whats-on/events-2014/february/fact--faraday-appointment-fulleri
an-prof-of-chemistry) on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
25. "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter F" (https://web.archive.org/web/20160527025245/h
ttp://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterF.pdf) (PDF). American
Academy of Arts and Sciences. p. 159. Archived from the original (http://www.amacad.org/p
ublications/BookofMembers/ChapterF.pdf) (PDF) on 27 May 2016. Retrieved 15 September
2016.
26. "APS Member History" (https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?year=1840;year-max=
1840;smode=advanced;startDoc=21). search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
27. Gladstone, John Hall (1872). Michael Faraday (https://archive.org/details/michaelfaraday06
gladgoog). London: Macmillan and Co. p. 53 (https://archive.org/details/michaelfaraday06gl
adgoog/page/n67). "Faraday French Academy."
28. "M. Faraday (1791–1867)" (http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/biografie/pmknaw/?pagetype=authorDet
ail&aId=PE00000215). Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 17 July
2015.
29. Bowden, Mary Ellen (1997). Chemical Achievers: The Human Face of the Chemical
Sciences. Chemical Heritage Foundation. ISBN 0-941901-12-2. p. 30.
30. "Twickenham Museum on Faraday and Faraday House" (http://www.twickenham-museum.o
rg.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=197); twickenham-museum.org.uk. Accessed 14 August 2014.
31. Croddy, Eric; Wirtz, James J. (2005). Weapons of Mass Destruction: An Encyclopedia of
Worldwide Policy, Technology, and History (https://books.google.com/books?id=ZzlNgS70O
HAC&q=Faraday++chemical+weapons+Crimean+War&pg=PA86). ABC-CLIO. p. 86.
ISBN 978-1-85109-490-5.
32. "Faraday to William Smith 3 January 1859" (https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/faraday/letters/Farada
y3541). Epilson.ac.uk. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
33. Plaque #2429 on Open Plaques (https://openplaques.org/plaques/2429)
34. 'The Abbey Scientists' Hall, A.R. p. 59: London; Roger & Robert Nicholson; 1966
35. Remarkable Physicists: From Galileo to Yukawa. Cambridge University Press. 2004.
pp. 118–119.
36. Hadfield, Robert Abbott (1931). "A research on Faraday's 'steel and alloys' " (https://doi.org/1
0.1098%2Frsta.1932.0007). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.
Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical or Physical Character. 230 (681–693): 221–
292. doi:10.1098/rsta.1932.0007 (https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsta.1932.0007).
37. Akerlof, Carl W. "Faraday Rotation" (http://instructor.physics.lsa.umich.edu/adv-labs/Farada
y/Faraday_Effect-july09-5.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 29 November 2023.
38. Jensen, William B. (2005). "The Origin of the Bunsen Burner" (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0050530143615/http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/HS/Journal/Issues/2005/Apr/clicSubscriber/
V82N04/p518.pdf) (PDF). Journal of Chemical Education. 82 (4): 518.
Bibcode:2005JChEd..82..518J (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005JChEd..82..518J).
doi:10.1021/ed082p518 (https://doi.org/10.1021%2Fed082p518). Archived from the original
(http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/HS/Journal/Issues/2005/Apr/clicSubscriber/V82N04/p518.pd
f) (PDF) on 30 May 2005.
39. Faraday (1827), p. 127.
40. Faraday, Michael (1821). "On two new Compounds of Chlorine and Carbon, and on a new
Compound of Iodine, Carbon, and Hydrogen". Philosophical Transactions. 111: 47–74.
doi:10.1098/rstl.1821.0007 (https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frstl.1821.0007). S2CID 186212922
(https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:186212922).
41. Faraday, Michael (1859). Experimental Researches in Chemistry and Physics. London:
Richard Taylor and William Francis. pp. 33–53. ISBN 978-0-85066-841-4.
42. Williams, L. Pearce (1965). Michael Faraday: A Biography (https://archive.org/details/michae
lfaradaybi0000will_g3v0/page/122). New York: Basic Books. pp. 122–123 (https://archive.or
g/details/michaelfaradaybi0000will_g3v0/page/122). ISBN 978-0-306-80299-7.
43. Faraday, Michael (1823). "On Hydrate of Chlorine" (https://books.google.com/books?id=lhw
_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA71). Quarterly Journal of Science. 15: 71.
44. Faraday, Michael (1859). Experimental Researches in Chemistry and Physics. London:
Richard Taylor and William Francis. pp. 81–84. ISBN 978-0-85066-841-4.
45. Ehl, Rosemary Gene; Ihde, Aaron (1954). "Faraday's Electrochemical Laws and the
Determination of Equivalent Weights" (http://www.elch.chem.msu.ru/rus/wp/wp-content/uplo
ads/2016/03/ed031p226FaradayLaw.pdf) (PDF). Journal of Chemical Education. 31 (May):
226–232. Bibcode:1954JChEd..31..226E (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1954JChEd..3
1..226E). doi:10.1021/ed031p226 (https://doi.org/10.1021%2Fed031p226).
46. "The Birth of Nanotechnology" (http://www.nanogallery.info/nanogallery/?ipg=126).
Nanogallery.info. 2006. Retrieved 25 July 2007. "Faraday made some attempt to explain
what was causing the vivid coloration in his gold mixtures, saying that known phenomena
seemed to indicate that a mere variation in the size of gold particles gave rise to a variety of
resultant colors."
47. Mee, Nicholas (2012). Higgs Force: The Symmetry-breaking Force that Makes the World an
Interesting Place. p. 55.
48. Faraday, Michael (1844). Experimental Researches in Electricity. Vol. 2. Courier
Corporation. ISBN 978-0-486-43505-3. See plate 4.
49. Hamilton, pp. 165–171, 183, 187–190.
50. Cantor, pp. 231–233.
51. Thompson, p. 95.
52. Thompson, p. 91. This lab entry illustrates Faraday's quest for the connection between light
and electromagnetic phenomenon 10 September 1821.
53. Cantor, p. 233.
54. Thompson, pp. 95–98.
55. Thompson, p. 100.
56. Faraday's initial induction lab work occurred in late November 1825. His work was heavily
influenced by the ongoing research of fellow European scientists Ampere, Arago, and
Oersted as indicated by his diary entries. Cantor, pp. 235–244.
57. Gooding, David; Pinch, Trevor; Schaffer, Simon (1989). The Uses of Experiment: Studies in
the Natural Sciences. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-33768-2. p. 212.
58. Van Valkenburgh (1995). Basic Electricity. Cengage Learning. ISBN 0-7906-1041-8. pp. 4–
91.
59. Lives and Times of Great Pioneers in Chemistry (lavoisier to Sanger). World Scientific.
2015. pp. 85, 86.
60. "Michael Faraday's generator" (http://www.rigb.org/our-history/iconic-objects/iconic-objects-li
st/faraday-generator). The Royal Institution. 15 October 2017.
61. "The Savoy Theatre", The Times, 3 October 1881. "An interesting experiment was made at
a performance of Patience yesterday afternoon, when the stage was for the first time lit up
by the electric light, which has been used in the auditorium ever since the opening of the
Savoy Theatre. The success of the new mode of illumination was complete, and its
importance for the development of scenic art can scarcely be overrated. The light was
perfectly steady throughout the performance, and the effect was pictorially superior to gas,
the colours of the dresses – an important element in the "æsthetic" opera – appearing as
true and distinct as by daylight. The Swan incandescent lamps were used, the aid of
gaslight being entirely dispensed with".
62. "The Savoy is one of the best places to stay in London" (https://10best.usatoday.com/destin
ations/uk-england/london/london/hotels/the-savoy-1/). USA Today. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
"The first public building in the world to be lit entirely by electricity, The Savoy has a history
rich in both invention and scandal."
63. "A tour of Michael Faraday in London" (https://www.rigb.org/explore-science/explore/collecti
on/tour-michael-faraday-london). The Royal Institution. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
64. "Detail of an engraving by Henry Adlard, based on earlier photograph by Maull & Polyblank
ca. 1857" (http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp01529). National
Portrait Gallery, UK: NPR.
65. James, Frank A.J.L (2010). Michael Faraday: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University
Press. ISBN 0-19-161446-7. p. 81.
66. Day, Peter (1999). The Philosopher's Tree: A Selection of Michael Faraday's Writings. CRC
Press. ISBN 0-7503-0570-3. p. 125.
67. Zeeman, Pieter (1897). "The Effect of Magnetisation on the Nature of Light Emitted by a
Substance" (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F055347a0). Nature. 55 (1424): 347.
Bibcode:1897Natur..55..347Z (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1897Natur..55..347Z).
doi:10.1038/055347a0 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F055347a0).
68. "Pieter Zeeman, Nobel Lecture" (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1902/z
eeman-lecture.html). Retrieved 29 May 2008.
69. "Michael Faraday (1791–1867)" (http://www.rigb.org/our-history/people/f/michael-faraday).
The Royal Institution. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
70. Jones, Roger (2009). What's Who?: A Dictionary of Things Named After People and the
People They are Named After. Troubador Publishing Ltd. p. 74.
71. "Causes of accidental explosions in the 19th century" (https://www.rigb.org/blog/2020/februa
ry/accidental-explosions). The Royal Institution. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
72. Smith, Denis (2001). London and the Thames Valley. Thomas Telford; ISBN 0-7277-2876-8,
p. 236.
73. Faraday, Michael (9 July 1855). "The State of the Thames", The Times. p. 8.
74. The Correspondence of Michael Faraday: 1849–1855, Volume 4. IET. 1991. p. xxxvii.
75. "No. 21950" (https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/21950/page/4219). The London
Gazette. 16 December 1856. p. 4219.
76. Thomas, p. 83
77. Royal Institution of Great Britain; Whewell, William; Faraday, Michael; Latham, Robert
Gordon; Daubeny, Charles; Tyndall, John; Paget, James; Hodgson, William Ballantyne;
Lankester, E. Ray (Edwin Ray) (1917). Science and education; lectures delivered at the
Royal institution of Great Britain (https://archive.org/details/scienceeducation00roya). Library
of Congress. W. Heinemann. pp. 39–74 [51].
78. Faraday, Michael (2 July 1853). "Table-turning" (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?q1=farada
y;id=chi.60765664;view=1up;seq=526;start=1;sz=10;page=search;num=530#view=1up;seq
=526). The Illustrated London News. p. 530.
79. Thompson, Silvanus Phillips (1898). Michael Faraday; his life and work (https://archive.org/d
etails/cu31924012323014). Cornell University Library. London, Cassell. pp. 250 (https://arch
ive.org/details/cu31924012323014/page/n269)–252.
80. James, Frank A.J.L; Faraday, Michael (1991). The correspondence of Michael Faraday. Vol.
4 (https://books.google.com/books?id=FH0bc2VJNe4C&pg=PR30). London: The Institution
of Electrical Engineers. pp. xxx–xxii. ISBN 978-0-86341-251-6.
81. Lan, B.L. (2001). "Michael Faraday: Prince of lecturers in Victorian England". The Physics
Teacher. 39 (1): 32–36. Bibcode:2001PhTea..39...32L (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/20
01PhTea..39...32L). doi:10.1119/1.1343427 (https://doi.org/10.1119%2F1.1343427).
82. Hirshfeld, Alan (2006). The Electric Life of Michael Faraday. New York: Walker & Company;
ISBN 0-8027-1470-6
83. Seeger, R.J. (1968). "Michael Faraday and the Art of Lecturing". Physics Today. 21 (8): 30–
38. Bibcode:1968PhT....21h..30S (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1968PhT....21h..30S).
doi:10.1063/1.3035100 (https://doi.org/10.1063%2F1.3035100).
84. "History of the Christmas Lectures" (https://web.archive.org/web/20170609035905/http://ww
w.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/history). The Royal Institution. Archived from the original (htt
p://www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/history) on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
85. Fisher, Stuart (2012). Rivers of Britain: Estuaries, tideways, havens, lochs, firths and kyles.
A&C Black. ISBN 1-4081-5583-4. p. 231.
86. Michael Faraday Primary School (http://michaelfaradayschool.co.uk/about_us/) Archived (htt
ps://web.archive.org/web/20120329005025/http://michaelfaradayschool.co.uk/about_us/) 29
March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. michaelfaradayschool.co.uk
87. "History of Faraday (Station F)" (https://www.bas.ac.uk/about/about-bas/history/british-resea
rch-stations-and-refuges/faraday-f/). British Antarctic Survey. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
88. "3 October 1933 – Albert Einstein presents his final speech given in Europe, at the Royal
Albert Hall" (https://www.royalalberthall.com/about-the-hall/news/2013/october/3-october-19
33-albert-einstein-speaks-at-the-hall/). Royal Albert Hall. 15 October 2017.
89. McNamara, John (1991). History in Asphalt. Harrison, NY: Harbor Hill Books. p. 99. ISBN 0-
941980-15-4.
90. Sir Andrew Clarke (1824–1902) (https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/clarke-sir-andrew-3219/te
xt4851). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
91. "The Faraday Centre" (https://www.faradaycentre.org.nz/about-us/history/).
Faradaycentre.org. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
92. "Faraday, Michael (1791–1867)" (http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/discover/blue-plaques/s
earch/faraday-michael-1791-1867). English Heritage. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
93. "Withdrawn banknotes reference guide" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110610131654/htt
p://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/denom_guide/index.htm). Bank of England.
Archived from the original (http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/denom_guide/index.h
tm) on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2008.
94. "BBC – Great Britons – Top 100" (https://web.archive.org/web/20021204214727/http://www.
bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/greatbritons/list.shtml/). Internet Archive. Archived from the
original (https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/greatbritons/list.shtml/) on 4 December
2002. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
95. " 'Scientific achievements' postage stamps" (https://collection.maas.museum/object/14942
1). Museum of Applied Sciences collection. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
96. "Issue: World Changers (21.09.1999)" (https://www.bfdc.co.uk/1999/world_changers/page1.
html). BFDC. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
97. "Faraday Institute for Science and Religion: Interdisciplinary Research and Projects" (https://
web.archive.org/web/20120111173539/http://www.templeton.org/what-we-fund/grants/farad
ay-institute-for-science-and-religion-interdisciplinary-research-and-projec). templeton.org.
Archived from the original (http://www.templeton.org/what-we-fund/grants/faraday-institute-f
or-science-and-religion-interdisciplinary-research-and-projec) on 11 January 2012.
98. About us (http://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/faraday/Institute.php) Archived (https://web.arc
hive.org/web/20091213214256/http://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/faraday/Institute.php) 13
December 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Faraday Institute
99. "The Faraday Institution" (https://faraday.ac.uk/). The Faraday Institution. Retrieved
25 December 2020.
100. Overbye, Dennis (4 March 2014). "A Successor to Sagan Reboots 'Cosmos' " (https://www.n
ytimes.com/2014/03/04/science/space/a-successor-to-sagan-reboots-cosmos.html). The
New York Times. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
101. Huxley, Aldous (1925). A Night in Pietramala. In: Along the Road: Notes and Essays of a
Tourist. New York: George H. Doran.
102. "IET Faraday Medal" (https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/iet-faraday-medal). St John's College
Cambridge. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
103. "Michael Faraday Prize and Lecture | Royal Society" (https://royalsociety.org/grants-scheme
s-awards/awards/michael-faraday-prize/). royalsociety.org. 30 November 2023.
104. "Gold Medals" (https://www.iop.org/about/awards/gold-medals). Gold Medals | Institute of
Physics.
105. "RSC Faraday Lectureship Prize" (https://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/Awards/Fara
dayLectureshipPrize/). www.rsc.org.
106. Hamilton, p. 220
Sources
Cantor, Geoffrey (1991). Michael Faraday, Sandemanian and Scientist. Macmillan.
ISBN 978-0-333-58802-4.
Hamilton, James (2004). A Life of Discovery: Michael Faraday, Giant of the Scientific
Revolution (https://archive.org/details/lifeofdiscovery00jame). New York: Random House.
ISBN 978-1-4000-6016-0.
Thomas, J.M. (1991). Michael Faraday and The Royal Institution: The Genius of Man and
Place (PBK) (https://books.google.com/books?id=GN70U1tTe_EC&pg=PA17). CRC Press.
ISBN 978-0-7503-0145-9.
Thompson, Silvanus (1901). Michael Faraday, His Life and Work (https://archive.org/details/
michaelfaradayh00thomgoog). London: Cassell and Company. ISBN 978-1-4179-7036-0.
Further reading
Biographies
Agassi, Joseph (1971). Faraday as a Natural Philosopher (https://archive.org/details/faraday
asnatural0000agas). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0226010465.
Ames, Joseph Sweetman (Ed.) (c. 1900). The Discovery of Induced Electric Currents.
Vol. 2. New York: American Book Company (1890).
Bence Jones, Henry (1870). The Life and Letters of Faraday (https://archive.org/details/lifea
ndlettersf02jonegoog). Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott and Company. "Faraday."
The British Electrical and Allied Manufacturers Association (1931). Faraday. Edinburgh: R. &
R. Clark, Ltd.
Gladstone, J.H. (1872). Michael Faraday (https://archive.org/details/michaelfaraday06gladg
oog). London: Macmillan. "Faraday."
Gooding, David; James, Frank A.J.L. (1985). Faraday rediscovered: essays on the life and
work of Michael Faraday, 1791–1867. Basingstoke, Hants, England; New York: Macmillan
Press; Stockton Press. ISBN 978-0-333-39320-8.
Gooding, David; Cantor, Geoffrey; James, Frank A. J. L. (1996). Michael Faraday. Amherst,
New York: Humanity Books. ISBN 978-1-57392-556-3.
Gooding, David; Tweney, Ryan D. (1991). Michael Faraday's 'Chemical notes, hints,
suggestions, and objects of pursuit' of 1822. London: P. Peregrinus in association with the
Institution of Engineering and Technology. ISBN 978-0-86341-255-4.
Hamilton, James (2002). Faraday: The Life. London: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-
716376-2.
Hirshfeld, Alan W. (2006). The Electric Life of Michael Faraday. Walker and Company.
ISBN 978-0-8027-1470-1.
Russell, Colin A. (Ed. Owen Gingerich) (2000). Michael Faraday: Physics and Faith (Oxford
Portraits in Science Series) (https://archive.org/details/michaelfaraday00coli). New York:
Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-511763-9.
Thomas, John Meurig (1991). Michael Faraday and the Royal Institution: The Genius of
Man and Place. Bristol: Hilger. ISBN 978-0-7503-0145-9.
Tyndall, John (1868). Faraday as a Discoverer (https://archive.org/details/faradayasdiscove
00tyndrich). London: Longmans, Green, and Company.
Williams, L. Pearce (1965). Michael Faraday: A Biography (https://archive.org/details/michae
lfaradaybi00will). New York: Basic Books.
External links
Biographies
Biography at The Royal Institution of Great Britain (https://web.archive.org/web/2004031201
5850/http://www.rigb.org/rimain/heritage/faradaypage.jsp)
Faraday as a Discoverer by John Tyndall, Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org/eb
ooks/1225) (downloads)
The Christian Character of Michael Faraday (http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1991/PSCF6-
91Eichman.html)
The Life and Discoveries of Michael Faraday (https://archive.org/details/lifediscoverieso00cr
owrich) by J. A. Crowther, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1920
Others
Works by Michael Faraday (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/5541) at Project
Gutenberg
Works by or about Michael Faraday (https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subjec
t%3A%22Faraday%2C%20Michael%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Michael%20Faraday%
22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Faraday%2C%20Michael%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22M
ichael%20Faraday%22%20OR%20title%3A%22Michael%20Faraday%22%20OR%20descri
ption%3A%22Faraday%2C%20Michael%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Michael%20Fa
raday%22%29%20OR%20%28%221791-1867%22%20AND%20Faraday%29%29%20AN
D%20%28-mediatype:software%29) at the Internet Archive
Works by Michael Faraday (https://librivox.org/author/1940) at LibriVox (public domain
audiobooks)
Complete Correspondence of Michael Faraday (https://epsilon.ac.uk/search?sort=date;f1-co
llection=Michael%20Faraday) Searchable full texts of all letters to and from Faraday, based
on the standard edition by Frank James
Video Podcast (https://web.archive.org/web/20060516234558/http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/video/i
ndex.rss) with Sir John Cadogan talking about Benzene since Faraday
The letters of Faraday and Schoenbein 1836–1862. With notes, comments and references
to contemporary letters (1899) (https://archive.org/details/lettersoffaraday00fararich) full
download PDF (https://archive.org/download/lettersoffaraday00fararich/lettersoffaraday00far
arich.pdf)
Faraday School, located on Trinity Buoy Wharf (https://web.archive.org/web/200901062055
02/http://www.newmodelschool.co.uk/faraday) at the New Model School Company Limited's
website
"Profiles in Chemistry: Michael Faraday" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVhiwi6AvQM)
on YouTube, Chemical Heritage Foundation