Faraday and Electricity

Michael Faraday, an English chemist and physicist, was one of the most important scientists of the 19th century. It was Faraday who discovered the induction of electric currents, the electric motor, and the transformer. He also demonstrated that the force of a magnet is in the field around it. Other scientists were soon to follow up his work with practical applications of his experiments with electricity. For example, the generation of electric power through power plants, carried by transformers to transportation, industry and the home was based upon the original work of Faraday. Without his discoveries modem life as we know it would not exist. This primary source portfolio chronicles Faraday's discoveries and their application to modern science. By reading the essays, letters, journal entries, magazine articles, and circulars students will gain an understanding of both the man and the theories and principles of electro-magnetism. This portfolio includes a Study Guide with reproducible student activities. 5 Illustrated Broadsheet Essays: * Electricity Before Faraday * Faraday the Man * Faraday and Experiment * Electro-Magnetism * The Nature of Electro-Magnetism 8 Primary Source Documents: * Eighteenth-century playing card showing a static electric machine * Letter from Faraday to Benjamin Abbott, 1812 * Pages from Faraday's journal * Pages from Faraday's notes on his "electric motor" experiment * Announcement for a course of "Juvenile Lectures" by Faraday * Pages from Faraday's notebook * Extract from the Illustrated London News, 1846 * Faraday in his laboratory: painting by Harriet Moore