Ten fun facts about Michael Faraday
Fact 1
Michael Faraday’s father was a poverty-stricken blacksmith who worked in the village of Newington in Surrey, England and the family hardly ever had enough to eat.
Fact 2
Due to money constraints, Faraday had to leave school at the age of 13. Initially, he ran errands for different people to earn money. By the time he turned 14, he apprenticed with a book-binder in London.
Fact 3
Michael Faraday attended several of scientist Humphry Davy’s lectures. After taking brilliant notes at one of the lectures, which Davy happened to read, he started assisting the great scientist in his work.
Fact 4
In 1821, he proved that magnetism that was created by an electric current could set a magnet in motion. This invention was a simplified version of the electric motors that are used today.
Fact 5
Michael Faraday largely worked as a chemist until 1830. It was in 1825 that he discovered the chemical, benzene.
Fact 6
In 1931 Faraday discovered that when a magnet is brought near an electric wire, it creates an electric current in the wire. This exact same discovery was made around the same time in the United Sates, by Joseph Henry.
Fact 7
Putting the theory of electric induction into practical use, he made the very first dynamo which was used in electricity generation. It was this discovery that opened the path to the age of electricity.
Fact 8
Michael Faraday chanced upon the first two laws of electrochemistry by accident. He was in the middle of an experiment to prove that that all kinds of electricity operate on the same concept.
Fact 9
His interest wasn’t limited to electromagnetism and physics. The Bunsen burner was invented by Faraday. Terms such as cathode, ion, anode and electrode were coined by him.
Fact 10
Faraday refused to accept a knighthood and declined becoming the President of the Royal Society. He turned down the British Governments request to assist them with the manufacture of chemical weapons that they intended to use in war.
More interesting reads about...
Jim Al-Khalili
British theoretical physicist, author and broadcaster.
James Clerk Maxwell
Was a mathematical and theoretical physicist of Scottish descent.
Gustav Kirchhoff
Was a German physicist who was the first to show that electric current flows at the speed of light through a conductor.
Robert Bunsen
A German chemist who developed the Bunsen Burner.
Tesla
Is a company that specializes in the production and designing of cars that run on electricity.
Georg Ohm
was a German physicist and mathematician
Alessandro Volta
Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta was an Italian physicist known for the invention of the battery in the 1800s
Humphry Davy
A Cornish chemist and inventor.
William Ramsay
A Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases.
MORE IN PEOPLE/CELEBRITIES
