A Brief History
On August 29, 1831, Michael Faraday of England discovered electromagnetic induction, the interaction of electricity and magnetism that allows the creation of the electric induction motor and the generator, among other things. The application of this knowledge ushered in the Electrical Age of Man, as modern appliances became possible utilizing this basic knowledge.
Digging Deeper
In conjunction with other scientists of the time, notably James Clerk Maxwell of Scotland, Faraday’s work also led to the development of all sorts of meters, welding machines, electric induction ovens, wireless energy transfer, electric clamping, electric seals and others. Linear magnetic induction makes quickly accelerating roller coasters and rail guns possible, as well as magnetic levitation devices and certain pumps. Even spacecraft propulsion may rely on such a concept.
Can you imagine a world without generators and electric motors? It seems we owe Mr. Faraday and his contemporaries quite a debt of gratitude. Michael Faraday was not just an electromagnetic pioneer, but was also an accomplished chemist and was the discoverer of Benzene. He also invented a laboratory burner similar to the later Bunsen Burner.
A simplified explanation of electromagnetic induction is that a magnet passing through a coil of wire produces electricity, and an electric current passing through a coil produces a magnetic field. These processes are what makes all these devices possible. The so called electromotive force is what moves the motor, closes the circuit, moves the needle in a meter, etc.. (Please do not get frustrated by the oversimplification, my degree is in Sociology.)
Without the work of Faraday, Maxwell, and others, the nifty inventions of Edison, Bell, and Tesla (among others) would not have happened. Perhaps History should celebrate Faraday et al a bit more. We have done our part!
Question for students (and subscribers): Who is your favorite inventor? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Forbes, Nancy and Basil Mahon. Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electromagnetic Field: How Two Men Revolutionized Physics. Prometheus, 2014.
Ludwig, Charles. Michael Faraday: Father of Electronics. Herald Press, 1978.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="12702 https://www.historyandheadlines.com/?p=12702">56 Comments
I think this was a brilliant idea that turned into even a bigger one. They started generating better things such as heat,electricity and so on.
Faraday obviously had a wonderful mind in order to think so ahead of his time and make this discovery. He truly opened the door for a lot of great inventors after him.
This opened up to so many different discoveries, just from one. It’s interesting to see how things started and slowly get put into place. Where would we be without this?
Wow a genius to think of something like that. Also to show many other people and other discoveries to come about.
electricity still is king today. I really doubt anything will take its place but hey that is what they said about steam power.
It’s hard to imagine what the world would be like today without electricity. This one discovery opened up so many different avenues for other inventions.
Agree that we should celebrate Mr Faraday as we do owe him our gratitude.
It is crazy how ahead of their time some people were. Faraday definitely deserves a great deal of our appreciation.
electricity runs our world, this is easily the greatest invention our society has ever had.
Electricity is almost esssential now days and a vital part of society
Imagine if the world today without electricity. The society we live in would be nothing
I agree because electricity is probably the biggest invention to man right behind agriculture
If we didn’t have electricity today everything would be different. Nothing would be the same today.
When reading this article, the first thing that I thought of was the references that the TV show “Lost” makes towards Michael Faraday. The physicist in Lost, Daniel Faraday, closely resembles Michael as they both dealt with electromagnetic forces. It was neat to see how the two connect, especially more through this article.
Faraday is one of the people I have admired the most when it comes to geniuses throughout history. I think he was an incredibly smart individual and yes, we indeed owe him a lot! Electromagnetic forces are such a complicated idea and I think it is fascinating how one individual came up with it and was able to observe its importance!
Faraday really contributed a concept that led to things that we take for granted today. One thing that intrigued me was that he was also an acclaimed chemist and famous for discovering Benzene. He also created an early form of the Bunsen burner. When I took chemistry, I remember the Bunsen burner was something I used so often and was important to experiments in the lab. I think it is cool that he not only contributed to electrical science, but also was essential to fundamentals in Chemistry.
Faraday is a major reason for what we as people have today. The use of generators is all around us even if we do not realize it. He came up with the idea of implementing magnets with electricity to generate power and that is seen everywhere today from wind turbines, generators on food trucks, and even cars use this technology today.
I’ve never heard of faraday before even though I’ve heard of some electrical scientists after his time such as tesla. Maybe children should learn about faraday before these other scientists since he seems to be the father of electronical era. I can’t imagine not having electricity with how much it is relied upon in the modern era.
Considering Michael Faraday’s importance, I am surprised I have never heard of him before! Without his discovery of the electromagnetic induction, we would be without many things we take for granted in the modern day.
No, I can not imagine a world without electric motors and generators. It is hard to last a day or two without using one of those. Faraday should certainly be talked about more considering these accomplishments.
Faraday should definitely be discussed more as one of the most important scientist in history. I cannot say that I have heard of him before this article, which goes to show that he should be more highly regarded in history.
I have only heard of Faraday from the Faraday’s constant which is the magnitude of electric charge per mole of electrons. I had no idea what other influences he had in the scientific community. He seems like he should be a legendary man.
Faraday is truly a world hero! What would life be without his inventions? I know of him only from physics classes but never discussed in a history class. I would love to know more about his scientific works.
Faraday is not to well known. I know that I have not heard of him before this article. Nevertheless, what he did was remarkable. Discovering electromagnetic inductions has brought us a long way today with technology.
I like how this article explains that some many inventions would not have been possible without other discoveries. I am not scientific, so I have a lot of respect for late discoverers and inventors.
I had never heard of Faraday before reading this article. I do agree that we should celebrate his findings more. I did not know he had influenced the findings of Edison, Bell, and Tesla. Without Faraday we would not be where we are today with technology.
I remember leaning about Faraday in my high school science class. Really awesome learning a little bit more about him and how his (et al) inventions started others.
On August 29, 1831, Faraday discovered something that has truly been able to change our world today. I could not imagine today’s world without electric motors or generators. Who would want to live in a world without roller coasters? Not me.
I have heard of Faraday before in classes in high school I believe but remarkable how his discovery has made such a impact in this world. Could have been a very boring world without his discoveries.
This is the first time really hearing about Faraday, but he deserves a lot of credit for the steps he took in order for us to be at technology wise where we are today.
It is so surprising that I have not heard about Faraday before. For an invention with such large impact I would have expected kids al over the world to learn about him alone with the other greats.
With the amount of hurricanes Florida sees a year, I owe a huge thanks to Faraday for making the generator possible. I can’t tell you the amount of times a generator has supplied our house with electricity for days. Cool to finally figure out who was behind this great idea.
I have never heard of Faraday before but I agree that he needs to be recognized more for his contributions. We would not be the society we are today without his contributions.
It is amazing to think that just because of Faraday’s one discovery of electromagnetic induction caused a chain reaction of many different things. It would be hard for today’s society to live with out generators and welding machines.
We have Faraday to thank not only for inventing the generator but also for all the other innovations that came along with it. I personally love roller coasters so without him I may have never experienced one!
I love that it only takes one person to spark an entire new era of technology.
I have never heard of Faraday before reading this article. What he accomplished was amazing and changed the shape the world.
I would like to learn a little more about how electromagnetic induction works. It seems complicated but I feel as though I would have an even deeper appreciation for Faraday’s work.
It is surprising that history does not give Faraday the credit that he rightfully deserves. We always learn about Bell’s, Edison’s, and Tesla’s inventions, but those wouldn’t even exist without the important components of Faraday.
I never knew of Faraday before this article. Without him, we would definitely need as advanced in technology.
I am very thankful for Faraday’s invention because I sure as hell could not figure out magnetic induction! Honestly, I have never heard of this man before. I feel bad for him because I believe not many people in my generation have a clue who he is. He started the technological era and needs to be known world wide!
Luckily he discovered this but it’s very sad he doesn’t get more credit for his invention because it helped make modern technology possible.
It always amazes me how one man or woman can affect the world in such a significant way!
This also seem like a start of brilliant ideas and things that help make our modern technology world today.
Thank God for Maxwell for making roller coasters possible, they are a blast. I always wondered how they worked if the weren’t n a chain, but now I know.
I’ve never been on a roller coaster but it’s cool to know how they operate! This just goes to show how much inventions and discoveries are responsible for our modern technologies!
I love roller coasters and have always had a slight fear of them. But that never stopped me from getting on one. Didn’t realize all the technology they needed to move.
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It’s crazy to think that so much technology was needed to move dollar coasters. I love going on dollar coasters when i’m at Cedar Point or other parks.
I have him to thank for the Millennium Force then.
Thank goodness Michael Faraday invented electromagnetic induction so we could have the appliances that we have today. It would have been very weird living how people lived back then if we didn’t have these things.
I use to love roller coasters but as I got older I’m scared to ride them.
Pretty cool that because of this man, Faraday, we now have welding and electricity and knowledge about it because of him.
This invention really opened up many doors to the modern age of man.
Thanks to Faraday and his several inventions, technological advances like motors and generators, are an important part of society.
this really influenced the scientific revolution for the country. This really opened may doors for new inventions with this discovery