Without the work of Michael Faraday, we wouldn’t have Teslas or nearly any modern mechanical thing for that matter. Faraday’s work and invention in the realm of electricity changed the world forever.
Faraday is the inventor of electrolysis, balloons, electric motors, generators, dynamos, and more. If you weren’t aware of Faraday’s work, you might at least recognize him from the cage that keeps his namesake, the Faraday cage.
He was a highly influential British scientist who in part turned electricity into something that could be harnessed for work. He was a noted chemist and physicist in his own time who created a substantial body of work and experiments that ultimately lead to our modern-day understanding of electromagnetism.
In order to grasp the magnitude of intellect and achievement that was Michael Faraday, let’s take a look back at his life and work.
By the way, did you know that Albert Einstein actually kept photos of three scientists in his office? Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell and, yes you’ve guessed it, Michael Faraday.
Where it all began for Faraday
Michael Faraday was born on the 22nd of September 1791 to a relatively poor family in the country village of Newington, Surrey. Newington was to later become absorbed into the South of London. His father was a blacksmith who had actually moved from the north of England in search of work in earlier in 1791.
His mother was a humble countrywoman who supported her family emotionally throughout their very difficult upbringing. Michael was one of four children who at times would find it hard to get enough to eat. Their father was often ill and incapable of work. A steady supply of food was far from easy for the Faraday family.
Michael Faraday would later in his life recount how he was given one loaf of bread that had to last a whole week. And you think you’ve got it bad?! His family belonged to a small Christian sect. This sect provided substantial spiritual and emotional support throughout his life.
As a child, Faraday latched onto curiosity to get him by, never letting go of his childhood need to understand why and desire to understand more about the way that things work. A story reminiscent of many an engineer.
Interestingly, his early education was very rudimentary indeed. He received only the basics, such as learning to read, write, and cipher at the local Sunday School. His first occupation was a paperboy delivering newspapers for a local book dealer and bookbinder. At the age of 14, he even began an apprenticeship with him, one he would pursue for the next 7 years.
Faraday was different from his fellow apprentices, however. Faraday would take the time to actually read some of the books he was binding. Michael would recount that one particular article on electricity in the third edition of Encyclopedia Brittanica would particularly grip his imagination. He was also heavily influenced by the book Conversations on Chemistry by Jane Marcet.
Mr. Faraday would even begin to experiment at this tender age. He actually built a weak voltaic pile through which he would perform home experiments in electrochemistry.
And so it was, using his relatively humble education that Faraday would self-teach himself and become one of the world’s greatest scientists.
When he was much older, he was a regular attendee of lectures by Sir Humphry Davy, a chemist who isolated a number of elements, such as potassium and sodium.
Faraday sat absorbed by the entire event and made meticulous notes.
So complete were these, in fact, that he even sent Davy a 300-page document to serve as official notes for the lectures. He also took the liberty of accompanying this with a letter asking for employment.
“Don’t ask, don’t get” we respect that Mr. Faraday.
Davy was clearly impressed but promptly and kindly rejected the young Faraday as he currently had no open positions. He did not forget the young man though. As soon as one of his assistants was fired for brawling he quickly offered the position to Michael.
He, of course, jumped at the opportunity and found himself in the enviable position of assisting and learning Chemistry from one of the greatest practitioners of the day. It is often jokingly said of Davy that Faraday was, in hindsight, his greatest ever discovery.
Faraday’s early work in chemistry
Faraday first joined Davy in the lab in 1812 at the age of 21. This was quite the opportunity for Faraday in his early career as Davy was one of the top chemists of his time.
The first project that the duo worked on together was interpreting the molecular structure of different chemicals. This early work taught Faraday a great deal about the rudimentary workings of electricity.
At the time that Michael Faraday joined Davy’s team, he was in the process of overturning the current thinking in Chemistry of the day. Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, the founder of modern Chemistry, had completed his reforms of chemical knowledge and had insisted on some core principles for future Chemists.
Amongst them, though there were many, was that oxygen was a unique element. He also dictated that it was the only supporter of combustion and, importantly here, it was the basis of all acids.
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