Michael Faraday—God’s power and electric power
by Ann Lamont, B.Sc., M.Ed.St.
Michael Faraday was born in the village of Newington, Sussex, England, on Thursday,
22 September 1791. He was the third of four children. Shortly after his birth his
family moved to West London, where Michael grew up. The family were devout Christians
and worshipped at a small chapel four kilometres away. Poor health prevented Michael’s
father, a blacksmith, from working full-time, which caused financial hardship.
Michael Faraday
After less than two years of formal education, Michael left school. When aged about
11, he became an errand boy for a bookbinder. When he turned 14, he began an apprenticeship
as a bookbinder. By spending his spare moments reading some of the books he was
binding, Michael took advantage of a great opportunity to educate himself. He became
fascinated with science, especially chemistry and electricity. He began to reproduce
some of the experiments about which he was reading. Bookbinding had trained him
to become skilful at using his hands, which greatly helped him manipulate scientific
apparatus.
Michael began attending weekly science lectures. He kept detailed notes and bound
these notes into beautiful notebooks. The lectures he attended included a series
at the Royal Institution by Sir Humphry Davy, the famous chemist who later invented
the coalminer’s safety lamp. (The Royal Institution had been set up to help
increase public awareness of useful scientific inventions and everyday applications
of science.) On completion of his apprenticeship, Michael sought a job in science.
He used his beautifully bound notes of Sir Humphry’s lectures to convince
Sir Humphry of his serious commitment to science. In 1813 he was hired when a laboratory
assistant’s position became available. Michael Faraday’s scientific
career had begun.
Indispensable help
Faraday’s scientific abilities quickly became apparent to those around him
at the Royal Institution. Instead of merely preparing equipment and chemicals, he
was soon assisting in the demonstrations at Sir Humphry Davy’s public lectures
as well. By the time Davy left on a scientific tour of Europe six months later,
he considered Faraday indispensable and took him along. The trip lasted two years
and was extremely rewarding scientifically for Faraday. As well as learning a great
deal, he met many famous scientists, including Ampere and Volta, after whom the
electrical units amp and volt were later named.
Discovers new substance
On returning to England in 1815, Faraday was re-employed by the Royal Institution.
He became increasingly involved in chemical analyses. He conducted research on steel,
making improvements in steel alloys. Faraday became the first person to liquefy
chlorine. He discovered a new substance which was later called benzene. Benzene
was subsequently found to be important in the manufacture of many useful organic
compounds such as dyes, nylon and plastics. Faraday also produced some new types
of glass in an attempt to improve telescope lenses.
Interest in electricity
Even while Faraday was spending most of his research time on chemistry, his interest
in electricity continued. In 1820, Danish scientist Hans Oersted showed that an
electric current flowing through a wire produces a magnetic field around the wire.
The following year, Faraday extended Oersted’s work by showing that the current
could be made to make a magnet move around the wire or make the wire move around
the magnet. This electromagnetic rotation was the forerunner of the electric motor.1
In that same year, 1821, Faraday was accepted as a member of the Royal Society—the
professional body where the foremost scientists exchanged discoveries and ideas.
Also that year, he married Sarah Barnard, a member of his church.
To that time, experiments had shown that electricity produced magnetism. Despite
the disbelief of many scientists, Faraday believed that the reverse should also
be true—magnetism should be able to produce electricity. Faraday successfully
showed this in 1831. Englishman William Sturgeon wound the current-carrying wire
into a coil around a U-shaped piece of iron, thereby strengthening the magnetic
effect of the current. American scientist Joseph Henry then insulated the wire,
further improving the magnetic field. By making the iron into a complete ring and
winding another coil of insulated wire on the other side, Faraday produced one of
his greatest inventions—the transformer. When an electric current was turned
on and off in one circuit, it caused a changing magnetic field which produced an
electric current with a different voltage in the other circuit.
Because electricity is generated and transmitted at high voltages and must be converted
to lower voltages before it is safe for domestic use, the transformer is an indispensable
part of the modern power supply network.
Next, Faraday sought to generate electricity from magnetism without first starting
with electricity. He created a changing magnetic field by moving a bar magnet in
and out of a hollow coil of insulated wire. As in the transformer, the changing
magnetic field produced an electric current. This discovery made possible electric
power generation as we know it today.
Believing in the creator
In a book on Faraday and electricity, Brian Bowers writes that ‘it seems likely
that his religious belief in a single Creator encouraged his scientific belief in
the “unity of forcesâ€?, the idea that magnetism, electricity and
the other forces have a common origin.’2 Faraday went on to show
that the electricity produced was the same regardless of how it was produced—by
a magnetic field, by a chemical battery or as static electricity.
Faraday then combined chemistry and electricity in his research work. He studied
electrolysis, which is the chemical breakup of certain substances by passing an
electric current through them. A special case of this is electroplating, where a
piece of metal is coated with a different metal. Faraday’s work on electricity
led him to discover the laws governing electrochemistry. He was also responsible
for naming many of the parts of the new equipment (including the electrolyte, the
anode and the cathode).
Not too busy for Christian witness
Although extremely busy with his research and lecturing, Faraday always took an
active role in his church. He was an elder for more than 20 years. Faraday’s
church did not have a paid clergyman. Instead, the elders, including Faraday, took
turns at preaching the sermons and leading the worship. Faraday’s church emphasized
living by Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount. The Christian principles
embodied there, such as generosity, humility, and forgiveness, were clearly evident
in Faraday’s life.
He gave generously to charities and to the poor whom he also visited. He supported
his widowed mother for many years. Faraday was not interested in acquiring wealth.
He repeatedly turned down highly paid consultancy work for government and industry
so he could concentrate on his more modestly paid research and lecturing work.
Faraday’s fame grew. He had lunch with Queen Victoria, and members of royalty
attended his lectures. However, he remained humble. He refused nomination for the
position of President of the Royal Society in 1846. In 1864, he declined an offer
to become President of the Royal Institution because it would have decreased the
amount of time he had available for research. For the same reason he had declined
the position of Professor of Chemistry at the University of London in 1827.
Faraday’s forgiving attitude was tested on many occasions. He considered it
appropriate to accept the Queen’s invitation to lunch even though it meant
missing Sunday worship. But his fellow elders did not consider it appropriate. They
took his eldership, and even his church membership, from him for a time. Faraday
responded as Jesus would have. He continued to attend worship and behaved lovingly
to those who had hurt him. Also, Faraday had some well publicized differences of
opinion with Sir Humphry Davy during his career as a scientist. However, this never
dimmed Faraday’s admiration for Davy.
Faraday’s bad grammar and poor spelling reflected his lack of formal education,
but his scientific genius is unquestioned.
Michael Faraday died on Sunday, 25 August 1867. Just 14 years later, the first public
electricity supply became a reality in Godalming, Surrey. Since then, his discoveries
in electricity have continued to have a great influence on our daily lives.
When Faraday retired from the Royal Institution after almost 50 years, he thanked
those who had worked with him during those years. However, he was careful to ‘Thank
God, first, for all his gifts’.3 In a biography on Faraday, L.P.
Williams wrote: ‘His true humility lay in a profound consciousness of his
debt to his Creator. That Michael Faraday, poor uneducated son of a journeyman blacksmith
and a country maid was permitted to glimpse the beauty of the eternal laws of nature
was a never-ending source of wonder to him.’4
References and notes
- Joseph Henry, an American scientist working independently of Faraday, produced an
electric motor slightly before Faraday did, but Henry did not publicize his findings
until after Faraday. Consequently, English books generally credit Faraday with inventing
the electric motor while American books usually give the credit to Henry.
- B. Bowers, Michael Faraday and Electricity, Priory Press, Hove, Sussex,
p. 34, 1974.
- Michael Faraday, as quoted in Bowers, p. 86.
- L.P. Williams, Michael Faraday, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1971, as
quoted in: C. Ludwig, Michael Faraday—Father of Electronics, Herald
Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, p. 194, 1978.
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