Faraday, Michael

Michael Faraday was an English physicist and chemist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. Faraday had only a basic school education and at the age of 14, became an apprentice to George Riebau, a bookbinder and bookseller. During his seven-year apprenticeship Faraday read many books, including Isaac Watts's The Improvement of the Mind and held discussions with his peers in the City Philosophical Society, where he attended lectures. He also developed an interest in science, especially in electricity. Faraday was particularly inspired by the book Conversations on Chemistry by Jane Marcet.

In 1812, at the age of 20 and at the end of his apprenticeship, Faraday attended lectures by the eminent English chemist Humphry Davy of the Royal Institution and the Royal Society, and John Tatum, founder of the City Philosophical Society. Faraday subsequently sent Davy a 300-page book based on notes he had taken during these lectures. In 1813, when Davy damaged his eyesight in an accident with nitrogen trichloride, he employed Faraday as an assistant. and as a Chemical Assistant at the Royal Institution.

In June 1832, the University of Oxford granted Faraday an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree. During his lifetime, he was offered a knighthood in recognition for his services to science, which he turned down on religious grounds. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1824, he twice refused to become President. He became the first Fullerian Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution in 1833. He continued his research but after retirement in 1858 Faraday lived at his house at Hampton Court and died there on 25 August 1867, aged 75.