Customer Reviews

A Life of Discovery: Michael Faraday, Giant of the Scientific Revolution

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It is a sad fact of modern life--at least in America--that so many of the great scientific minds that helped create our modern life are forgotten. As a high school science teacher, I try to give my students some knowledge of the important figures of scientific history. Standing as one of the giants of nineteenth century science is the subject of this book, Michael Faraday.

Faraday's rise to the top of the scientific world is an interesting one. The son of a blacksmith, Faraday was apprenticed at an early age to a bookbinder. During his apprenticeship, however, he became interested in science through the popular public lectures on the subject and likely through reading some of the books he was binding. As his apprenticeship came to an end, Faraday tried to apprentice himself to a scientist and, through both hard work and good luck, attached himself to one of the most important scientists of the day, Humphrey Davy.

While working with Davy, Faraday learned the fundamentals of scientific research, demonstrating extraordinary ability as an experimentalist. In time, Faraday became his own man, achieving a place of honor at the Royal Institution where he loyally remained for the rest of his career. During that time, he made a number of important discoveries, including the basics of electromagnetism, developing the prototype of the modern electric generator among other devices that will become integral to our modern society. He also made a name for himself as a popular lecturer on science whose fame at the time could only be equaled by Charles Dickens. Through this, he made known his lifelong belief in universal scientific education for the young. Most significantly, he did this all with minimal formal schooling leaving him forever limited in some respects such as mathematical ability.

James Hamilton does a very good job of taking us through Faraday's life with depth but also in a very readable way. He brings out not only Faraday's scientific achievements but also his dedication to his strict form of Christianity (the Sandemanians) and the tension this sometime brought to his life. He showed Faraday's constant struggle against illness and his own limitations. Also, he shows something of Faraday's artistic side and how this influenced Faraday's research, most obviously in his support of the developing science/art of photography.

Though Hamilton's expertise in art gives an added dimension often missing from scientific biography, it also contributes to the two main weaknesses of this book. In general, Hamilton's explanations of Faraday's work is quite good, particularly for the general reader, but he does miss some opportunities. Most noticeably, he gives a very cursory coverage to Faraday's development of the field concept which plays such an important role in physics today. This is quite surprising considering how easily it lends itself to artistic depiction. Additionally, from his previous work it seems he has a fixation on the British landscape artist, J. Turner, and refers to him repeatedly throughout the book (particular in the latter part) whereas I could not see how this contributed in any real way to the story of Faraday.

Despite this, Hamilton has written a very good book here that will hopefully contribute to a revival in interest in this very important scientific figure, particularly here in the U.S. When I traveled to England some years ago I was surprised upon turning over a twenty pound note to see an image of Michael Faraday. Clearly Faraday still retains respect in his homeland. Scientific figures don't command that kind of respect here but Hamilton's book helps to show why they should.

Although it might sound as a very good idea, it is obviously pretty brave to write about Michael Faraday when you're not a scientist. Hamilton does complain in the editorial already to have accepted this work, and worthy enough to mention, he does not do a good job. Reading this long book you do get a lot of more or less single informations on the life of MF that taken together do not make up more than a small-minded reconstruction of whome he answered which letter when and using which tone. Pretty few notes on where science came from and what the dream of a final theory was about. Nothing at all on Maxwell and his electrodynamics, this alone is inexcusable. Nothing of course on how the theory failed already with Michelson and Morley in the late 1880's. Einstein, who admired Faraday like almost nodbody else, isn't even mentioned once. We do not get an insight into the Sandemanian sect. What we do get is pages of analysis of random photographs showing MF and others. This book has little understanding of the matter and therefore no life in it. Sorry.

One thing that delighted me about this book and about the person of Michael Faraday was the mixture of science and faith. While these two disciplines have parted ways and are no longer intertwined for many in the modern world, Michael Faraday is an intriguing example of both a devout believer and a ground breaking researcher.
Faraday's story also has immense appeal as it relates his rise out of humble beginnings on the basis of his own genius and merit, in contrast with the lingering emphasis of his time on inheirited wealth and position.
My only criticism is that the author, who evidently has written much in the realm of art history, adds a bit more content on art to this biography than seems justified.
On the whole, I recommend this book as it is a well told tale about a significant and intriguing character whose story is very much worth retelling and considering anew.

I was quite a surprise to read that in the early research of Michael Faraday that he was making attempts to tap into planetary motion.

In the book it tells the story of his attempts using many hundreds of feet of copper wire and running the ends into a pond to use planetary motion to produce electrical energy.

He also used copper and iron wire in attempts to extract energy from the high speed motion of our planet. Of course that our planet is in motion was known since the work in 1729 of English astronomer James Bradley.

Only in the mid twentieth century did astronomers reveal how fast we are actually going. Nearly 600 miles per second. That's the combined planetary, solar and galactic motions.

This gives an explanation of where energy is to be drawn from to power free energy over unity machines. These machines are called "Velocity power sources."

The book is a good read. I'd of given it five stars of it had a little bit more technical details of his experiments, Though there are other books that are written specific to his technical research.

Has some nice pictures in it to.

Its an enjoyable read.