Michael Faraday
1791 – 1867 British physicist, chemist, experimenter
Largely self-taught experimenter who discovered electromagnetic induction, the basis of the electric generator and motor.
- Religion
- Sandemanian Christian
- Affiliations
- Royal Institution, Royal Society
Michael Faraday came from a poor family and had little formal schooling, working as a bookbinder before joining the Royal Institution as an assistant to Humphry Davy. He became one of the greatest experimenters in history, discovering electromagnetic induction in 1831, the principle behind the dynamo, the generator, and the electric motor. He introduced the idea of fields of force, which James Clerk Maxwell later put into mathematics. A devout member of the small Sandemanian church, he turned down a knighthood and other honours, and he gave famous public lectures to bring science to a wide audience.
Connections
- associate of James Clerk Maxwell — Built his mathematical field theory on Faraday's experimental ideas.
- associate of James Clerk Maxwell — Maxwell turned Faraday's idea of fields of force into mathematical theory.
- influenced James Clerk Maxwell — Maxwell turned Faraday's field concept into mathematical laws.
In the timeline
- 1831 Faraday demonstrates electromagnetic induction the discoverer
- 1831 Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction the discoverer