Michael Faraday

"Faraday" redirects here. For other uses, see Faraday (disambiguation).

Michael Faraday
FRS
Faraday, c. 1850s
Born(1791-09-22)22 September 1791
Newington Butts, Surrey, England
(now Greater London)
Died25 August 1867(1867-08-25) (aged 75)
Hampton, Middlesex, England
(now Greater London)
Known for
See list
Spouse
Sarah Barnard
​
(m. 1821)​
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
Chemistry
InstitutionsRoyal Institution
Signature

Michael Faraday FRS (/ˈfærədeɪ, -di/; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English physicist and chemist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism and electrolysis. Although Faraday received little formal education, as a self-made man, he was one of the most influential scientists in history.[1] It was by his research on the magnetic field around a conductor carrying a direct current that Faraday established the concept of the electromagnetic field in physics. Faraday also established that magnetism could affect rays of light and that there was an underlying relationship between the two phenomena.[2][3] He similarly discovered the principles of electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism, and the laws of electrolysis. His inventions of electromagnetic rotary devices formed the foundation of electric motor technology, and it was largely due to his efforts that electricity became practical for use in technology.[4]

As a chemist, Faraday discovered benzene, investigated the clathrate hydrate of chlorine, invented an early form of the Bunsen burner and the system of oxidation numbers, and popularised terminology such as "anode", "cathode", "electrode" and "ion". Faraday ultimately became the first and foremost Fullerian Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution, a lifetime position.

Faraday was an experimentalist who conveyed his ideas in clear and simple language. His mathematical abilities did not extend as far as trigonometry and were limited to the simplest algebra. James Clerk Maxwell took the work of Faraday and others and summarised it in a set of equations which is accepted as the basis of all modern theories of electromagnetic phenomena. On Faraday's uses of lines of force, Maxwell wrote that they show Faraday "to have been in reality a mathematician of a very high order – one from whom the mathematicians of the future may derive valuable and fertile methods."[5] The SI unit of capacitance is named in his honour: the farad.

Albert Einstein kept a portrait of Faraday on his study wall, alongside those of Isaac Newton and James Clerk Maxwell.[6] Physicist Ernest Rutherford stated, "When we consider the magnitude and extent of his discoveries and their influence on the progress of science and of industry, there is no honour too great to pay to the memory of Faraday, one of the greatest scientific discoverers of all time."[1]

  1. ^ a b Rao, C.N.R. (2000). Understanding Chemistry. Universities Press. ISBN 81-7371-250-6. p. 281.
  2. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "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". theiet.org.
  4. ^ "The Faraday cage: from Victorian experiment to Snowden-era paranoia". The Guardian. 22 May 2017.
  5. ^ Maxwell, James Clerk (2003). Niven, W. D. (ed.). The Scientific Papers of James Clerk Maxwell, Vol. II. Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0-486-49561-3.
  6. ^ "How British scientists inspired and ensured Einstein's place in history". BBC Science. Retrieved 3 May 2024.