Michael Faraday: His Life and Work

by Silvanus Phillips Thompson

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Genres: Biography

Kindle Edition

Published September 9, 2022

About the author

Silvanus Phillips Thompson FRS was a professor of physics at the City and Guilds Technical College in Finsbury, England. He was known for his work as an electrical engineer and as an author.

Thompson is one of the individuals represented on the Engineers Walk in Bristol, England.

Thompson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1891 and was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1894.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I made the smooth-reading of this book and Project Gutenberg will publish it pretty soon.

CONTENTS
PAGE
Chap. I.—Early Life, Training, and Travel 1
Chap. II.—Life at the Royal Institution 35
Chap. III.—Scientific Researches—First Period 75
Chap. IV.—Scientific Researches—Second Period 102
Chap. V.—Scientific Researches—Third Period 172
Chap. VI.—Middle and Later Life 222
Chap. VII.—Views on the Pursuit of Science and on Education 261
Chap. VIII.—Religious Views 286

[Morzejko Leporello · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did enjoy the book on two levels: as the biography of one of the most important scientists of all time, and for the writing itself. Silvanus Thompson was a scientist and a writer and though younger than Faraday, still living in the same era. As such he was an ideal candidate to write Faraday's biography. Throughout the book one can sense the author's admiration for Faraday's work and this "rubs" on the reader as well. And being a scientist himself, Thompson has no problem describing accurately and clearly Faraday's discoveries and inventions, something that is often lacking in biographies of scientists written by good writer who, however, do not have a scientific or engineering background.
Silvanus Thompson wrote an equally interesting biography of William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), his contemporary.

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this look into the life of a Christian experimenter, possibly the best the world has ever seen. Faraday was brilliant and some of the conjectures and experiments he came up with, without significant scientific or mathematical training, was amazing. As an engineer, I enjoyed the speculations on things such as electromagnetics, written from the standpoint of someone in the 1800s.