Michael Faraday

Michael Faraday POWERHOUSE p ioneer who electrified the wor ld

Faraday was an electricity expert who brought power to the people, becoming one of the biggest names in scientific history.

Bar of magnet in a bowl filled with mercury

Motor running

Faraday’s experiments specialized in combining electricity and magnetism, called electromagnetism.

This was how he came to make history in 1821 by inventing the FIRST ELECTRIC MOTOR. When a magnet is moved through a wire coil, it produces an electric current. The ability to harness electromagnetic energy had the potential to replace machines powered by horses, steam, and water.

Faraday’s transformer

Set for science

Who came after...

Despite leaving school at the age of 13 and working as a bookbinder, Michael Faraday became one of the most important scientists ever. He spent his free time reading books, and after attending a lecture by leading chemist Humphry Davy in 1812, Faraday became interested in science. He carried out his own experiments at the back of the bookshop, and eventually became

Davy’s assistant at the ROYAL

INSTITUTION in London.

Jane Marcet’s 600-page book Conversations on

Chemistry inspired Faraday to pursue chemistry. Did you know? In 1858, Prince Albert gave Faraday a house at Hampton Court Palace for his contributions to science.

Inspired by Faraday, Scottish

scientist JamEs ClErk maxwEll discovered in 1862 that electricity and magnetism were the same force, and that light was a form of electromagnetic wave. American inventor Thomas alva Edison set up the first commercial power plant in New York City, USA, in 1882. It is considered the world’s first station to generate electricity.

Years of experimentation led to two more inventions. The TRANSFORMER was an iron ring designed to reduce electric voltages for safe use in electrical equipment.

The DYNAMO was the first electric generator, using magnets to convert movement into electricity.

In Faraday’s design, a copper disc is rotated manually to pass between the poles of a magnet, producing an electric current in the copper. By the way… I loved to share my knowledge of science with everyone and gave Christmas Day lectures at the Royal Institution, a tradition that has continued with other scientists.

1870s model of Faraday’s dynamo

How he changed the world

Faraday’s research can be seen all around us. Every piece of electrical equipment features a motor, while transformers and generators provide power for us.

After producing electromagnetic waves in his laboratory, German physicist hEinriCh hErtz became the first person to send and receive radio waves in 1888. American Edith ClarkE was the first female electrical engineer and professor of electrical engineering.

She studied electrical power sources and documented her findings on power distribution in many books.