Michael Faraday

Whenever you turn on a light, listen to a CD or watch the television, you will probably not think about it, but you are doing something that owes a great deal to the life and work of the English scientist Michael Faraday.

In the 19th century he worked on electricity and magnetism. His work helped others understand the science of electricity and magnetism. This eventually led to the development of everyday conveniences and luxuries that we take for granted today. Faraday was one of the greatest and most important scientists in history.

WHAT WAS HIS EARLY LIFE LIKE?

Michael Faraday was born in Newington Butts, Surrey, on September 22, 1791. His father was a blacksmith. The Faradays were a deeply religious family and belonged to a small sect of Christianity called the Sandemanians. Michael was committed to this sect for the whole of his life. In 1821 he married a fellow Sandemanian, Sarah Barnard, and was later both a deacon and an elder in the Church.

A DEVELOPING INTEREST IN SCIENCE

Michael attended a day school in London before being apprenticed as a bookbinder between 1805 and 1812. During his apprenticeship he developed a great love of reading. He also developed an interest in science after attending various scientific lectures, especially meetings of the City Philosophical Society in Fleet Street. In 1812 he attended the Royal Institution to hear the final four lectures of the great English chemist Sir Humphry Davy. He made detailed notes of the lectures and sent them to Davy asking for a job. The following year, Davy appointed Faraday as his assistant at the Royal Institution.

Between 1813 and 1815 he and Davy toured many of the great chemistry laboratories of Europe. Back at the Royal Institution, Faraday continued working on chemistry and helped Davy invent the miner’s safety lamp. By the age of 30 Faraday had become a very senior person at the Royal Institution and was becoming increasingly interested in physics.

WHAT DID FARADAY DISCOVER?

Faraday believed that there was a relationship between electricity and magnetism. In 1819 the Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted discovered the idea of electromagnetism. He found that a wire carrying an electric current deflects a magnetic needle at right angles to the wire. This showed that an electric current can create a magnetic field. In 1821 Faraday began experimenting with electromagnetism. He demonstrated how electrical energy can be converted into mechanical energy—and thus invented the world’s first electric motor.

Another great idea came in 1831. Oersted had earlier shown that an electric current can create a magnetic field, but Faraday now discovered that a magnetic field could be used to create an electric current. This was known as “electromagnetic induction”. He showed it by moving coils of copper wire inside a magnetic field, causing an electric current to flow in the wire. The discovery helped him to create the world’s first electric dynamo—a machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy.

With his inventions of both the electric motor and the electric dynamo, Faraday showed that electricity could be produced and controlled by man. As we know now, one day it would be used to provide the power for our homes, factories, hospitals, streets and much more.

MORE SCIENCE

Faraday also investigated an area of science known as electrochemistry, which deals with the relationship between electric currents and chemical reactions. In 1834 he established the basic laws of electrolysis when he discovered that acids, bases and salts are electrolytes. This means that when acids, bases and salts are dissolved in water they produce a liquid solution that contains charged particles or ions that can conduct an electric current. Faraday also developed a liquid version of the gas chlorine and identified the gas called benzene. He also invented the words anode, cathode, electrode and ion. As well as all this he made great contributions to the studies of light and gravity.

In 1826 Faraday started the Royal Institution Christmas lectures for children. These continue today and have been televised each year since 1966. Faraday delivered many lectures himself and became one of the most popular scientific speakers of the day. In 1833 he became professor of chemistry at the Royal Institution.

Faraday also worked for the British government. From 1830 until 1851 he was professor of chemistry at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. There he worked on improving explosives. Between 1836 and 1865 he was scientific adviser to Trinity House, which meant that he oversaw the programme to electrify all the lighthouses around the British Isles. The government was very pleased with Faraday’s work and granted him a generous pension, although he refused the offer of a knighthood.



Faraday had become very famous. His portrait was often painted and he was one of the most photographed men in the country. In 1858 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert gave him a home for free at Hampton Court Palace. It was there that he died on August 25, 1867.

Faraday’s work greatly advanced our understanding of science and made it of practical use to us all. He helped change the world.