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British scientist Michael Faraday is best known for his work with electricity. Before Faraday, people understood little about how electricity worked, where it came from, or how it could be used. Faraday's research helped make it possible for people to put this once-mysterious force to work lighting and powering homes, offices, and factories.
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Michael Faraday was born September 22, 1791, in Newington, Surrey. The area is now a part of the city of London, England. The Faraday family was very poor. Michael's father was a blacksmith, but he was not well and could not work all the time. There were times when all young Faraday had to eat for a week was a single loaf of bread. He was not an unhappy child, however. His mother was loving, and the entire family found comfort in their religion, a branch of Christianity called Sandemanism.
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Sandemanism |
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Michael Faraday had very little formal education. He learned the basics—reading, writing, and simple math—through church Sunday school. To help support his family, Faraday began working at an early age. He delivered newspapers for a time. When he was 14 he became an apprentice to a bookmaker. An apprentice is a young person who learns a job from a skilled worker. In exchange for the training, the apprentice helps in a business for several years. Faraday enjoyed his work because he could read the books that came through the shop. When he came across an article on electricity in a copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica, Faraday was thrilled by what he read. From that moment on, Michael Faraday knew he wanted to be a scientist.
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Both luck and hard work brought Michael Faraday to the attention of Sir Humphry Davy. Davy was a famous chemist who worked at the Royal Institute, a scientific group in London. In 1813 Faraday began to work as Davy's assistant. Faraday traveled with Davy, helped with his work at the institute, and learned as much as he could along the way. After a few years Faraday became an expert chemist in his own right.
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Sir Humphry Davy |
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By about 1818 Faraday was ready to begin his own research. He experimented with electricity and magnets. He was able to explain in more detail than ever before exactly how electricity works, how it can be produced, and how it can be used to power engines. Faraday also discovered ways in which magnetic forces affect different solids and gases. His many inventions and discoveries helped scientists, chemists, and electrical engineers for years to come.
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Magnets
Inventions and Discoveries |
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