 | August 29, 1831 | Enjoy the lights in your home, that softly humming AC, or modern technology in general? Thank Michael Faraday, a self-made scientist whose endless curiosity eventually led him to the field of electricity and electromagnetism. On August 29, 1831, Faraday demonstrated an entirely new way to produce electricity, called "electromagnetic induction." Through a series of experiments, he induced electricity using copper coils and magnets (hence the name) and transformed mechanical energy into electric power. This same principle is what allows today's hydroelectric dams, generators, transformers, and power grids to produce and regulate electricity — and by extension, power our modern society. Some scientists at the time disregarded Faraday's theoretical ideas, but in 1865, two years before Faraday's death, scientist James Clerk Maxwell revealed that light, electricity, and magnetism all come from what he termed an "electromagnetic force." He supported this idea with his now-famous Maxwell Equations, one of which he named after his friend Faraday. These equations form the bedrock of electromagnetism, but Maxwell never forgot the self-made scientist who made his work possible. He wrote in 1890 that "Faraday is, and must always remain, the father of that enlarged science of electromagnetism." |
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