Michael Faraday
(1791-1867)

Michael Faraday has been called Britain's greatest experimental scientist. He made important discoveries in chemistry and physics that have shaped our lives even today, and yet he never expected wealth or honours and throughout his life remained a quiet, religious man.

The Apprentice

Michael's parents belonged to a small Christian sect called the Sandemanians who followed the teachings of Christ in the New Testament. They lived simple lives and only mixed with other members of the sect. Michael was brought up in London where his father had moved to find work. The family were poor and Michael only received a very basic education. At the age of fourteen he began working for Mr Riebau, a bookseller, and was apprenticed as a book binder. He enjoyed learning the trade and all his life continued to bind his notes using the skills he learnt. Michael was delighted by what he read in the books in Mr Riebau's shop. He soon became fascinated by science particularly the study of electricity.

Michael made a special effort to improve his education by reading, attending public lectures, discussing ideas with friends and writing notes and essays. He would write long letters to close friends even though he saw them frequently. A room in the bookshop became a simple chemistry laboratory for his first experiments and he saved up pennies from his wages to buy glass bottles in which to carry out reactions.

Michael's efforts at self-education came to the notice of one of Mr Riebau's wealthy customers who gave him tickets to lectures by Humphry Davy at the Royal Institution. Davy was already a hero of science having isolated the metals sodium and potassium by electrolysis using the electric batteries recently invented by Volta. He was a handsome man, a poet as well as a scientist and women flocked to his lectures.

Michael noted everything that Davy said in his lectures. He sent him a bound copy of his written up notes and pleaded for a job. Davy was impressed but at first had no position for him. Then in 1812 two things happened. First Davy injured his eyes and was unable to perform his own experiments and second, his somewhat incompetent assistant got into a fight and was sacked. Michael was offered the post and was excited that at last he was to become a scientist.

The Experimental Scientist

Humphry Davy soon found that Faraday was an able assistant and keen learner. In 1813 he took him on a tour of Europe visiting scientists in Paris and elsewhere. As the Napoleonic Wars were raging at the time it may seem strange that a famous scientist, his wife and assistant could travel freely, but Davy was welcomed everywhere he went. Faraday met many wellknown scientists and learnt all that he could although Davy's snobbish wife treated him like a servant. On their return to the Royal Institution Faraday began his own researches as well as helping Davy. He became an expert at chemical analysis and to supplement his poor pay from the Royal Institution he did work for industry and insurance companies. During one of these investigations he discovered a new substance - benzene. Benzene became a very important compound in the study of organic chemistry and in the chemical industry.

Faraday's main interests however were in electricity. In the 1820s various scientists had investigated the magnetic effects of an electric current flowing in a wire. Magnetism causes attractions and repulsions so Faraday built a machine that made a wire carrying a current rotate around the pole of a magnet - an electric motor. Having used electricity and magnetism to produce motion Faraday tried to do the reverse. For a number of years he struggled until in 1831 he discovered electromagnetic induction. He found that when a magnet was moved in and out of a coil of wire a current was produced in the wire, but only when the magnet was moving. Electromagnetic induction changed society. All power stations use it to generate the electricity that is delivered to homes, factories, shops and offices. Faraday never learnt much mathematics but preferred to think in pictures. He invented the idea of lines of force to explain the magnetic field around permanent magnets and electromagnets.

Faraday also did important investigations in electrolysis and his friend William Whewell devised words to describe what he found out - cathode, anode, cation and anion. Some of his theories were rejected by later scientists but his well-designed experiments, his careful observations and his exceptionally neat and detailed notes provided scientists with vast amounts of data. This contrasted with Davy's careless and hurried style of experimentation. As Faraday grew in fame and importance so Davy became jealous of his pupil's success.

The Teacher

As a young man Faraday listened to many lectures and although not a natural entertainer he learned the skills needed to be a successful lecturer. In the 1820s the Royal Institution was very short of money. Faraday helped by doing analytical work and in 1825 when he became Director of the Laboratory he began the Friday Evening Discourses. These were talks on any and every branch of science given to paying guests. He devised fascinating demonstrations that informed and entertained the public including the rich and famous such as Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband.

Faraday also began the Christmas Lectures for children and for over thirty years he regularly delivered the talks that excited an interest in science. His most famous talk, The Chemical History of a Candle, was published in various languages all over the world.

Faraday had married Sarah, another member of the Sandemanian church, in 1821. They had a close and loving relationship. Although they never had their own children they were close to their nieces and nephews and Faraday felt it important that children should learn about science.

By the 1830s, he was Britain's most famous scientist but he turned down offers of jobs in universities and honours. He continued to live in the simple, contented Sandemanian way, occupying rooms at the Royal Institution. In 1838 he suffered the first bout of a mental illness that gradually affected his memory. By the late 1850s his memory was so poor that he could only perform short experiments and was unable to argue his theories effectively. He gave up lecturing in 1861 and retired in 1865 to live in a house provided by the Queen. He died peacefully in 1867.