Michael Faraday could be labeled the "underdog of modern science". The son of a poor blacksmith, Faraday was no stranger to hard work, which was perhaps the exact opposite of many of his contemporaries, who came from wealthy backgrounds and studied science as a sort of extracurricular activity.
Although Faraday was unsuccessful when it came to money, he was very successful in the field of science, namely electric science. One of his most important discoveries is that of electro-magnetic induction. It was this experiment, and others of the like, that brought about the discoveries of Maxwell, Rutherford, and Einstein, and elevated Faraday from the son of a poor blacksmith, to a great man of modern science.
A Book Binder
Michael Faraday was born in the year 1791 in Newington, Surrey England. His parents were poor, and in 1796 his father moved the family to London in search of better work as a blacksmith. His father was a sickly man, and because of this Michael found work at the age of 13 as an errand boy for a local bookbinder.
Mr. Riebau, the owner of the bookbinding shop, hired the boy to deliver books and newsletters to his patrons. During breaks, Riebau encouraged Michael to read books and to study. As Faraday grew older, he began attending local lectures held by John Tatum. At the lectures he took shorthand notes, and later rewrote the notes in more depth. While attending Tatum's lectures, Faraday became increasingly interested in chemistry as well as electricity. It was through these lectures that Faraday learned most of what he knew about electricity, galvanism, hydrostatics, optics and geology (Williams).
In 1813, at the age of 21, Faraday became a lab assistant at the Royal Institute in Londo...
... middle of paper ...
...was attached to the disk as well as the galvanometer. As the crank was rotated, Faraday noticed that the needle on the galvanometer moved. Moreover, the needle remained in that condition when the crank was rotated at a constant speed. This device Faraday named the Electric Dynamo (Williams).
Works Cited
Agassi, Joseph. Faraday as a Natural Philospher. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1971.
Hart, Ivor B. “Electrical Science.” The Great Physicists. Freeport, NY: Books For Libraries Press, 1970.
Hecht, Eugene. Physics: Algebra / Trig. Pacific Grove, CA: Thomson Learning, 2003.
Segre, Kaplan, Schiff and Teller. Great Men of Physics: The Humanistic Element in Scientific Work. Los Angeles, CA: Tinnon-Brown, Inc., Book Publishers, 1969.
Williams, L. Pearce. Michael Faraday. New York, NY: Basic Books, Inc., Second Printing.
Severance, John B. Einstein: Visionary Scientist. New York: Clarion Books, 1999. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 14 Apr. 2014
Manning, Kenneth R. (1983). Black Apollo of Science: The Life of Ernest Everett Just. New York: Oxford University Press
Kosanovic, Bogdan R. "Nikola Tesla: A Short Biography." Neuronet. 20 October 1994. Web. 10 Sept. 2011. .
The major encounters that Tesla and Faraday faced included social, economic, intellectual barriers. Considering socially, Faraday was considered to be a “...high-priest of Nature, revealing the hidden forces...”(Shortland) People saw Faraday as the highest of his field, the one who was the closest to God in relation to understanding his creation. This also shows the social standard at this point in time, many going to church and understanding when someone references a religious point. Also, for social encounters, we have Tesla with his description f what the future will be like. This was not a reaction to the society that Tesla was around, but a prediction of what they were to become. Tesla, hoping to see that people would grow to become stronger
One thunderous afternoon on June 1752, Benjamin Franklin conducted what is known today as the “Kite Experiment”. He wanted to prove that if one object was electrical, the energy from that object could be transferred to another object, therefore being classified as electricity and lightning. With his son William, Ben took a string and attached the kite to it, then he attached an iron key to the kite. Next, they tied a thin metal wire from the key and put the wire inside a Leyden jar which stored all the electrical charge. His experiment profitably showed that his accusations were correct. Many other scientist tried the same experiment and were electrocuted, but Ben Franklin was the lucky one. He changed the world of science.
1.Kirkpatrick, L. D., & Wheeler, G. F. (2001). Physics: A World View. Orlando: Harcourt College Publishers.
...ysics.” Although he did possess some personal qualities and knowledge that enabled him to look at things differently and allowed him to answer many difficult questions in the 20th century, without any help from other scientists modern physics would look very different from what it looks like right now. His views and ideas had to conform with previously established principles, had to be logically valid and had to go through a review process before being accepted as a part of the discipline of physics. This shows how strong personal knowledge led to advances in an area of knowledge and in shared knowledge.
- Crowther, J. A. Men of Science: The Life and Discoveries of Michael Faraday. New
Kirkpatrick, L. D., & Wheeler, G. F., Physics: A World View. Philadelphia: Harcourt Inc., 2001.
Benjamin Franklin was one of the first and most famous scientists in America. He was a man of many talents and interests. Franklin was always curios about they way things work, and he always tried to find ways to make them work better. Even though he started out as a published, he was always interested in science. However this interest soon became a passion to Franklin. He even retired from his publishing business to work in a laboratory with his mostly homemade equipment. Throughout his life Benjamin Franklin made many important discoveries and theories which greatly influenced future scientists and inventors.
Nikola Tesla was born midnight on July 10, 1856, in Smiljan, Lika, which at that time was part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, which is now known as Croatia. His father was named Milutin Tesla and he was a Serbian Orthodox Priest. Djuka Mandic was his mother and she invented household appliances. Tesla was the fourth child of five, having one older brother and three younger sisters. In 1873, Tesla studied at the the Polytechnic Institute in Graz, Austria and the University of Prague. At first, he wanted to pursue in physics and mathematics, but shortly after he became extremely interested in electricity. He began studying alternating current their also. Supposedly he had a photographic memory being able to memorize complete books. In December 1878, he left Graz and his family. In 1881, he started his career as an electrical engineer working for a telephone company in Budapest. It was around that time that Tesla was able to discover the solution for the rotating magnetic field. He was able to describe the basics of the induction motor to his peers. Later his alternating current induction motor would be considered one of the ten greatest discoveries of all time. Before coming to America, Tesla joined the Continental Edison Company in Paris where he designed. In February 1882, Tesla discovered the rotating magnetic field, an important principle in physics and it was also the start to pretty much all devices that use alternating current. In 1883, he secretly built a prototype of the induction motor which he was able to run successfully. Nobody in Europe cared about promoting his unqualified device, Tesla then accepted an offer to work for Thomas Edison in New York. His childhood dream was to come to America and to be able to grasp ...
Cassidy, David Charles "Uncertainty: the life and science of Werner Heisenberg", New York 1992, W.H. Freeman and Company
James Clerk Maxwell may not be a household name when it comes to scientists, but his contributions to the field ranks him with some of the great scientists of all time.He is mainly known for his ground breaking work in electromagnetics, spurring a field that has given rise to many of the great accomplishments of the twentieth century.His equations, which relate the effects of electricity and magnetism to one another, are key in the development of modern relativity theory and the development electrical components and electronic systems.Like many great scientists, Maxwell was ahead of his time and his equations were not completely understood by his peers, but as science and mathematics progressed the beauty and genius behind his equations was fully revealed.
A genius once said “We all make mistakes, and it is better to make them before we begin,” (Tesla Universe). Nikola Tesla, brilliant and honest, is the most unknown liberator of science. He came up with the idea of many useful inventions; direct current, wireless communication and the radio controlled robot. Although he is not credited for most of his inventions, his ideas that he brought to life have changed the way we live.
In 1831, using his "induction ring", Faraday made one of his greatest discoveries - electromagnetic induction: the "induction" or generation of electricity in a wire by means of the electromagnetic effect of a current in another wire. The induction ring was the first electric transformer. In a second series of experiments in September he discovered magneto-electric induction: the production of a steady electric current. To do this, Faraday attached two wires through a sliding contact to a copper disc. By rotating the disc between the poles of a horseshoe magnet he obtained a continuous direct current. This was the first generator. From his experiments came devices that led to the modern electric motor, generator and transformer.