Originally apprenticed to a bookbinder, Michael Faraday (1791 1867) began to attend Sir Humphrey Davy's chemistry lectures purely out of interest. Although he soon recognised that science would be his vocation, there was no defined career path to follow, and when he applied to Davy for work he was gently told to 'attend to the bookbinding'. It was only after a laboratory explosion in which Davy partially lost his sight that Faraday was taken on as his amanuensis. From this difficult beginning stemmed perhaps the most famous scientific career of the nineteenth century. This three-volume...

Originally apprenticed to a bookbinder, Michael Faraday (1791 1867) began to attend Sir Humphrey Davy's chemistry lectures purely out of interest. Although he soon recognised that science would be his vocation, there was no defined career path to follow, and when he applied to Davy for work he was gently told to 'attend to the bookbinding'. It was only after a laboratory explosion in which Davy partially lost his sight that Faraday was taken on as his amanuensis. From this difficult beginning stemmed perhaps the most famous scientific career of the nineteenth century. This three-volume...

Originally apprenticed to a bookbinder, Michael Faraday (1791 1867) began to attend Sir Humphrey Davy's chemistry lectures purely out of interest. Although he soon recognised that science would be his vocation, there was no defined career path to follow, and when he applied to Davy for work he was gently told to 'attend to the bookbinding'. It was only after a laboratory explosion in which Davy partially lost his sight that Faraday was taken on as his amanuensis. From this difficult beginning stemmed perhaps the most famous scientific career of the nineteenth century. This three-volume...

Michael Faraday (1791-1867) was one of the most important men of science in nineteenth century Britain. His discoveries of electro-magnetic rotations (1821), and electro-magnetic induction (1831) laid the foundations of the modern electrical industry. His discovery of the magneto-optical effect and of diamagnetism (1845) led him to formulate the fi eld theory of electro-magnetism, which forms one of the cornerstones of modern physics. These and a whole host of other fundamental discoveries in physics and chemistry, together with his lecturing at the Royal Institution, his work for the state,...

Michael Faraday was without doubt one of the most important scientists of the nineteenth century; His discoveries of electromagnetic rotation and electromagnetic induction laid the foundations of the modern electricity industry. Almost 75% of the letters in Volume 3 were previously unpublished. During this period he discovered the magneto-optical effect and diamagnetism, allowing him to argue for his views on the nature of matter.

The complete Correspondence, which will comprise six volumes, is a landmark resource for all historians of science and technology. Nearly two-thirds of the letters in this 4th volume are previously unpublished. They concern Faraday's work on such diverse topics as terrestrial and atmospheric magnetism, the electrification of lighthouses and the theory of telegraphic retardation, as well as advice to the Government on the war with Russia, his exclusion from the Sandemanian Church and his views on table turning. Correspondence with such figures as Thomson, Babbage, Brunel, Schoenbein and...