Faraday , Michael , 1791-1867 , chemist and physicist

Born Newington Butts, Surrey, 22 September 1791. Apprenticed to a London bookinder age 14 and educated himself by reading scientific books. In 1812 he attended lectures given by Humphrey Davy at the Royal Institution, London; after unsuccessfully asking Davy for a job at the Royal Institution, he was appointed laboratory assistant 1 March 1813. In 1814 left England to travel with Davy and his wife on an 18 month European tour to France, Switzerland, Italy and Belgium to meet scientists. Back in England Faraday became involved with numerous projects at the Royal Institution including the improvement of optical glass and advising on the cleaning of marbles in the British Museum, London; in 1826 he founded the Royal Institution's Friday Evening Discourses and Christmas Lectures; he gave many public lectures himself and wrote notes offering guidance to lecturers. Throughout his life Faraday kept detailed records of lectures attended, books and articles read and experiements conducted which he bound into notebooks; he also corresponded with like-minded friends which he saw as vital in continuing his education. This correspondence widened as Faraday's career developed, and eventually covered many of the eminent scientists of the day. Faraday was a devout Christian and a member of the small Sandemanian denomination, an offshoot of the Church of Scotland. He later served two terms as an elder in the group's church at Glovers Hall, Barbican, which later moved to Barnsbury, Islington. On 2 June 1821 Faraday married Sarah Barnard (1800-1879), they having met through attending the Sandemanian church; they had no children. His greatest work was with electricity; in 1821 Faraday built two devices to produce what he termed electromagnetic rotation after Hans Christian Oersted discovered the phenomenon of electromagnetism; he conducted a series of experiments in which he discovered electromagnetic induction using his "induction ring", being the first electric transformer, in 29 August 1831; the following month in a second series of experiments he discovered magneto-electric induction; On 24 November 1831 and 12 January 1832 these experiments were described in two papers presented to the Royal Society. These were the first and second parts of his "Experimental researches into electricity" in which he gave his ,"law which governs the evolution of electricity by magneto-electric induction". Subsequent experiments in 1832 proved that the electricity induced from a magnet, voltaic electricity produced by a battery, and static electricity were all the same; he also did significant work in electrochemistry, stating the First and Second Laws of Electrolysis laying the basis for electrochemistry. He was Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich 1830-1851; Scientific advisor to Trinity House 1836-1865. In the 1840s and 1850s he suffered from ill health that prevented further research and in 1865 he resigned from the Royal Institution; he died at his house at Hampton Court on 25 August 1867 .