Michael Faraday

It’s the birthday of Michael Faraday, who was born in 1791 in Newington Butts, which was once a village and is now part of London. As a boy Faraday worked for a bookbinder, a job that gave him access to books, which he read to educate himself. His scientific career began when he became an assistant to chemist Humphrey Davy. Faraday’s first discoveries were in chemistry, notably in electrochemistry. The terms anode, cathode and electrode were Faraday’s introductions. To physicists, Faraday is best known for discovering electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism and for demonstrating in a series of ingenious experiments the relationship between electricity and magnetism. Faraday also proved that magnetism influences light. The entry in his lab notebook for 19 March 1849 reads in part: “Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature; and in such things as these experiment is the best test of such consistency.”

Date in History: 22 September 1791