2 min speech on Michael Faraday and his invention
Answers
When reading about Michael Faraday’s early life, it’s hard to believe that he would eventually become one of the most significant scientific minds in history. He was one of the fathers of modern electricity and went on to influence and inspire other brilliant minds, including Albert Einstein. Famed physicist Ernest Rutherford said it best when he stated that, “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.” We have Faraday to thank for the modern electric motor, generator, and transformer.
Michael Faraday was born on September 22, 1791 in the village of Newington Butts, near London. In this time period, it was normal for parents to give the most complete and expensive education to the firstborn child (assuming of course, that child was male). As Faraday’s parents weren’t well off, and Faraday was the third of four children, he received a very limited and brief early education. This did not deter the future scientist, however, and he took his education into his own hands. He found a great way to do this when he became the apprentice to a local bookseller and bookbinder at the age of fourteen. Surrounded by the written word, Faraday read everything he could get his hands on. This is where he eventually found and nurtured his love for science.
Inspired by his reading and the subsequent scientific lectures he attended, Faraday wrote to Sir Humphry Davy to ask for employment. Davy was at that time the Director of the Laboratory and Assistant Chemistry Lecturer at the Royal Institution. Faraday’s request piqued Davy’s interest, and Faraday was hired in 1813 as his laboratory assistant. Faraday proved his brilliance, making a few significant discoveries early on in his time with Davy. In 1823, he discovered the liquefied form of chlorine, and then in 1825 he discovered a completely new substance which is now known as benzene.v
Michael Faraday died of natural causes on August 25, 1867. He was 75 years old