Forces of Matter

by Michael Faraday

Michael Faraday (1791-1867) was one of the world's greatest experimental philosophers and popularizers of science. These six extraordinary lectures on gravitation, cohesion, chemical affinity, heat, magnetism, and electricity were intended for young audiences. Together, they offer the reader a fascinating introduction to some of Faraday's most important work on the correlation between the physical forces of the universe.

Genres: Science, Physics, Nonfiction, Classics, Science Nature

Paperback

First published May 1, 1993

About the author

Michael Faraday, FRS (22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include those of electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism and electrolysis.

Although Faraday received little formal education, he was one of the most influential scientists in history. It was by his research on the magnetic field around a conductor carrying a direct current that Faraday established the basis for the concept of the electromagnetic field in physics. Faraday also established that magnetism could affect rays of light and that there was an underlying relationship between the two phenomena. He similarly discovered the principle of electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism, and the laws of electrolysis. His inventions of electromagnetic rotary devices formed the foundation of electric motor technology, and it was largely due to his efforts that electricity became practical for use in technology.

As a chemist, Faraday discovered benzene, investigated the clathrate hydrate of chlorine, invented an early form of the Bunsen burner and the system of oxidation numbers, and popularised terminology such as anode, cathode, electrode, and ion. Faraday ultimately became the first and foremost Fullerian Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, a lifetime position.

Faraday was an excellent experimentalist who conveyed his ideas in clear and simple language; his mathematical abilities, however, did not extend as far as trigonometry or any but the simplest algebra. James Clerk Maxwell took the work of Faraday and others, and summarized it in a set of equations that is accepted as the basis of all modern theories of electromagnetic phenomena. On Faraday's uses of the lines of force, Maxwell wrote that they show Faraday "to have been in reality a mathematician of a very high order – one from whom the mathematicians of the future may derive valuable and fertile methods." The SI unit of capacitance, the farad, is named in his honour.

Albert Einstein kept a picture of Faraday on his study wall, alongside pictures of Isaac Newton and James Clerk Maxwell. Physicist Ernest Rutherford stated; "When we consider the magnitude and extent of his discoveries and their influence on the progress of science and of industry, there is no honour too great to pay to the memory of Faraday, one of the greatest scientific discoverers of all time".

Reviews

[K.C. Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

A passionate optimist performs dangerous and amazing scientific experiments in front of an audience of children at Christmas; occasionally pausing to make grandiose statements about the incredibleness of existence; occasionally burning mercury and/or lead in whimsical fashion, and most often: generating a series of small explosions.

What's not to love?

[Prakhar Ghildyal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just when Charles Dickens was experimenting with his words to concoct stories of Pip and the convict Abel Magwitch, there was a man who was delivering his lectures to an audience gathered during Christmas of 1859-60.
What looks to be a quick read is an interesting blend of writing which on one hand provides stickiness for the reader and on the other hand demands focus to understand elements of knowledge which hold secrets of forces of nature. If you have been someone who enjoyed lighting matches with converging sunlight through a magnifying glass or the simple push and pull force between two magnets or believed that pendulums hold more to life than solely being an inanimate agent of hypnotism, this is a must read for you.
The beauty of this reading experience is that this comes from a voice 162-year-old, but of ideas which are as fresh as tomorrow.

[Nitish Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to do read a this book

[Charlie Eskew · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I won't pretend to have fully grasped what I read, but what I was able to gather was helpful, and it was wonderful for the research I'm doing and easy to read through.

[Igal · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to underestimate the greatness of Michael Faraday, one of the 19th-century scientists responsible for bringing the physical sciences (and especially those relating to electricity and magnetism) into the modern era. This is a short book reproducing a series of lectures he gave to an introductory science class.

In a neat and empirical way, Faraday's lectures take us on a systematic march through the science of the interactions of matter. Experiment after experiment sheds light on what matter is and what forces act on its constituents.

The diagrams could be brought into the 21st century, and let's have more of them.