FARADAY, MICHAEL, D. C.L., d. 1867, one of the most distinguished chemists and nat ural of the present century; a splendid instance of success obtained by patience, perseverance, and genius, over obstacles of birth, education, and fortune. He was born in 1791, near London, his father being a blacksmith. He was early appren ticed to a bookbinder; yet even then lie devoted his leisure time to science, and amongst other things, made experiments with an electrical machine of his own construction. Chance having procured him admission, in 1812, to the chemical lectures of sir H. Davy (q.v.), then in the zenith of his fame, he ventured to send to Davy the notes he had taken, with a modest expression of his desire to be employed in some intellectual pur suit. Davy seems to have at first endeavored to discourage him, but finding him thor oughly iu earnest, soon engaged him as his assistant at the royal institution. lie trav eled with Davy to the continent, as assistant and amanuensis. On their return to London, Davy confided to him the performance of certain experiments, which -led in his hands to the condensation of gases into liquids by pressure. Here he first showed some of that extraordinary power and fertility which have rendered his name familiar to every one even slightly acquainted with physics, and which led to his appointment, in 1827, to sir H. Davy's post of professor of chemistry in the royal institution. We shall give a brief summary of his more important discoveries and published works, arranging the different subjects according to their position in various branches of science, rather than in their chronological order.
In chemistry, we have his treatise on Chemical Manipulation, 1827; 2d ed. 1842, even now a very valuable book of reference. His Lectures on the Non-metallic Elements, and Lectures on the Chemical History of a Candle, delivered at the royal institution in 1860, were published shortly after. As discoveries or investigations of a high order in this branch of science, we may mention—new compounds of chlorine and carbon, 1821; alloys of steel, 1822; compounds of hydrogen and carbon, 1825; action of sulphuric acid on naphthaline, 1826; decomposition of hydrocarbons by expansion, 1827; and the very valuable series of experiments made in 1829-30, on the manufacture of glass for optical purposes, which resulted in one of his greatest discoveries.
As practical applications of science, his preparation of the lungs for diving, and ventilation of light-house lamps, are conspicuous, as are also his celebrated letter on table turning, and his lecture on mental education.
To enumerate only the most prominent of his publications on physical science, we may commence with the Condensation of the Gases (already referred to); then we have Limits of Vaporization, Optical Deceptions, Acoustical Figures, Regelation, Relation of Gold and other Metals to Light, and Conservation of Force. Of these, the condensation of gases into liquids and solids, though previously effected by others (and F. has ever been the foremost to acknowledge another's priority), he has really made his own, not only by the extent and accuracy of his experiments, but by the exquisite experimental methods by which he effected the results. His ideas on regelation, and its connection with the motion of glaciers, have not met with universal acceptance, though (see HEAT, ICE, GLACIER) there is no dispute as to his being correct in his facts. In regard to con servation of force, there can be no doubt that lie has been led into a fallacy, by mis taking the technical use of the word force (see FoncE), for in his article on the subject he describes experiments made with the view of proving the conservation of statical, not dynamical force, whereas the doctrine of conservation asserts merely the conserva tion of " energy," which is not statical force. He may be right also, but if so, it will be by a new discovery, having no connection whatever-with _".copervation of energy." His ChristmaS" lectures fit the royal institution, though to the young, contain in reality much that may well be pondered by the old. His manner, his unvarying success in illustration, and his felicitous choice of expression, though the subjects were often of the most abstruse nature, were such as to charm and attract all classes of hearers. Besides two sets (already mentioned) on chemical subjects, we have his Lectures on the Physical Forces, a simple work, but in reality most profound, even in its slightest remarks.