Michael Faraday
Famous as :Physicist & Chemist,Nationality: British,Born on:22 September 1791 AD,Died on 25 August 1867 AD,father:James Faraday,mother:Margaret Hastwell,Spouse/Partner:Sarah Barnard
discoveries / inventions:Electromagnetic Induction, Plane Of Polarization, Benzene
Michael Faraday was one of the most
prolific scientists of the 19th century. A British physicist and
chemist, Faraday is best known for his discoveries of electromagnetic
induction and the laws of electrolysis. His biggest breakthrough,
however, came with his invention of the electric motor. Faraday is also
credited with the invention of the most primitive form of Bunsen burner.
Since the early days, the concept of energy, specifically force,
interested Faraday the most. It was due to this early reading and
experiments with the idea of force that he was able to make important
discoveries in electricity later in life. To know more about this
British chemist and physicist, read through the following lines.
Early Life
Born in Newington Butts (today a part of the
London Borough of Southwark), Michael Faraday did not come from a very
affluent family. His father, James was a member of the Glassite sect of
Christianity. Professionally, James was an apprentice to the village
blacksmith. Third of the four children, young Michael Faraday received
only basic education. In 1804, he served as an errand boy for the
bookseller George Riebau, delivering newspapers among other things, who a
year later, indentured Faraday for a period of seven years. It was
during these seven years of apprenticeship that Faraday read many books,
two amongst which that captured his attention like none others were
Isaac Watts', The Improvement of the Mind and Jane Marcet’s,
Conversations on Chemistry. Not only did this reading activity improve
his knowledge and understanding, it also determined his course of life.
Faraday’s keen interest in science, especially in electricity, was
developed herein.
In 1812, at the end of his apprenticeship
Faraday was presented tickets to attend four lectures to be delivered by
the eminent professor of chemistry, Humphry Davy and John Tatum,
founder of the City Philosophical Society, at the Royal Institution, by
William Dance, who was a regular customer at Riebau’s and one of the
founders of the Royal Philharmonic Society. Faraday, in an attempt to
thank Davy, sent him a three-hundred pages book which contained notes
taken during the lecture. Later, Faraday bagged a temporary job as a
secretary to Davy, when the latter damaged his eyesight in an accident
with nitrogen trichloride. In March 1813, Davy appointed Faraday as
Chemical Assistant at the Royal Institution, after John Payne, one of
the Royal Institution's assistants, was sacked.
Things, however, weren’t as smooth for Faraday
later as they were until then. In the long tour that Davy had set out
on, from 1813 until 1815, his valet did not accompany him. As such,
Faraday had to fill up for this vacancy. While the tour did open for
Faraday the doors to the scientific elite of Europe and exposed him to a
host of stimulating ideas, the journey wasn’t a very pleasant one.
Biased by classism, Davy’s wife refused to treat Faraday as an equal and
made life hell for Faraday, who, worn out by the torture, even thought
of giving up on science altogether. In the year 1821, Faraday was
appointed as the acting superintendent of the house of the Royal
Institution.
Contribution in the Field of Chemistry
Faraday’s earliest contribution to chemistry was
while he was working as an assistant to Davy. He was involved in the
study of chlorine. Faraday also conducted experiments on the diffusion
of gases. Additionally, he succeeded in liquefying several gases,
investigating the alloys of steel, and producing several new kinds of
glass intended for optical purposes. One of Faraday’s most notable works
was invention of the earliest form of Bunsen burner (as we call it
today), which is still in use today in the science laboratories around
the world as a most suitable source of heat. His extensive work in the
field of chemistry can be found out from the fact that he discovered the
chemical substance benzene, a chemical compound of carbon and hydrogen.
Faraday also discovered two new compounds in chlorine and carbon. While
one is used in smoke grenades, the other is employed in the arena of
dry cleaning, and spot removing.Faraday is also credited for discovering
the laws of electrolysis, and for popularizing terminology such as
anode, cathode, electrode, and ion, for which he took the help of
William Whewell. It is said that Faraday first reported what we today
know as metallic nanoparticles. In 1847, Faraday researched that the
optical properties of gold colloids differed from those of the
corresponding bulk metal, and it was this discovery which marked the
birth of nanoscience.
Contribution in the Field of Electricity & Magnetism
Faraday created a storm in the field of
electricity and magnetism with his work. His research in electricity had
an enormous influence on the development of mathematics. Faraday’s
first success in the field of electricity came when he successfully
built the first electric motor. The experiments and inventions that he
undertook then, formed the foundation of modern electromagnetic
technology.He continued his laboratory work exploring electromagnetic
properties of materials and developing requisite experience. In an
attempt to find out whether a magnetic field could regulate the flow of a
current in an adjacent wire or not, Faraday had set up a circuit but he
found no relationship. The next seven years of Faraday’s life was
dedicated in the arena of optical quality (heavy) glass, borosilicate of
lead, which he used in his future studies connecting light with
magnetism.
Two years following Humphry Davy’s death,
Faraday got involved in a series of experiments wherein he discovered
electromagnetic induction. However, the pinnacle came only when he
wrapped two insulated coils of wire around an iron ring, and found that,
upon passing a current through one coil, a momentary current was
induced in the other coil, a phenomenon which is today known as mutual
induction. In later experiments, Faraday discovered that a changing
magnetic field produces an electric field. This relation was used by
James Clerk Maxwell later and is today one amongst the four Maxwell
equations. Faraday, afterwards, used these principles to construct the
electric dynamo, the precursor of modern power generators. In the year
1839, Faraday conducted a series of experiments to examine the
fundamental nature of electricity. To produce the phenomena of
electrostatic attraction, electrolysis and magnetism, Faraday used
"static", batteries, and "animal electricity".
When Faraday worked on the theory that
electromagnetism flowed into the empty space around a conductor, a
concept at the very base of electromechanics, it was first rejected but
later approved. However, Faraday did not live to see its acceptance. It
was in 1845 that Faraday researched the notionthat many materials
display a weak repulsion from a magnetic field which he termed as
diamagnetism. Additionally, he also discovered the fact that the plane
of polarization of linearly polarized light could be rotated by the
application of an external magnetic field aligned in the direction in
which the light moved. This phenomenon is today termed as Faraday
Effect. During his work on static electricity, Faraday’s experiment
displayed 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 was due to the fact that the exterior charges
redistributed in such a way that the interior fields due to them
cancelled. This protective effect is used in what we now know as a
Faraday cage.
Personal Life
The wedding bells for Michael Faraday rang on
June 12, 1821. His significant other, Sarah Barnard, was the daughter of
the Sandemanian silversmith, Edward Barnard. The couple first met
through their families at the Sandemanian church. One month post
marriage, Faraday confessed his faith to the Sandemanian congregation.
He served as deacon and for two terms, as an elder in the meeting house
of his youth. His church was located at Paul's Alley in the Barbican.
Later, in 1862, the meeting house was relocated to Barnsbury Grove,
Islington which was where Faraday served the final two years of his
second term as elder before resigning from that post
Death & Legacy
Michael Faraday breathed his last on August 25,
1867 at his house at Hampton Court. He was buried in the dissenters'
(non-Anglican) section of Highgate Cemetery, after turning down the
burial in Westminster Abbey. Nevertheless, Faraday has a memorial plaque
near Newton’s tomb. In order to pay tribute to the works of this great
scientist, a statue of Faraday stands in the Savoy Place, London,
outside the Institution of Engineering and Technology. London also
houses a memorial in the memory of Faraday, which is situated at the
Elephant & Castle gyratory system, near Faraday’s birthplace at
Newington Butts. Designed by brutalist architect Rodney Gordon, the
memorial commemorates Michael Faraday’s importance as a scientist.
Walworth, London not only has a small park by the name Faraday Gardens,
but also a school which is known as Michael Faraday Primary school.
Located on Trinity Buoy Wharf is the Faraday School, where his workshop
stands until today above the Chain and Buoy Store, alongside London's
only lighthouse.
South Bank University’s electrical engineering
department is named the Faraday Wing, due to its proximity to Faraday’s
birthplace in Newington Butts. While at the University of Edinburgh's
science & engineering campus, an eight-story building is named after
Faraday, at Brunel University a recently built hall of accommodation
bears his name and so does the main engineering building at Swansea
University, a hall at Loughborough University and the instructional and
experimental physics building at Northern Illinois University. There are
a number of streets in various countries and cities that have been
named after this prolific scientist. From 1991 until 2001, Faraday’s
picture featured on the reverse of Series E £20 banknotes issued by the
Bank of England. The picture showcased him conducting a lecture at the
Royal Institution with the magneto-electric spark apparatus.Faraday
grabbed the 22nd position in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons, following a UK-wide vote, which was conducted in the year 2002.
