---
node: michael_faraday
type: person
slug: michael_faraday
title: "Michael Faraday"
lead: "Michael Faraday (1791–1867) was an English scientist whose discovery of electromagnetic induction in 1831 made electric power generation possible. A bookbinder's apprentice with little formal schooling, he became one of the greatest experimentalists in the history of science."
published: 2026-07-12
updated: 2026-07-12
---

## Who they were

Born to a poor London family, Faraday educated himself while apprenticed to a bookbinder, won a post as Humphry Davy's assistant at the Royal Institution in 1813, and spent his whole career there, becoming its leading figure and a celebrated public lecturer who founded the Christmas Lectures for children.

## What they did

He discovered electromagnetic rotation in 1821 and electromagnetic induction in 1831 — the principle behind the generator and the transformer — established the laws of electrolysis, discovered the magneto-optical effect and diamagnetism, and introduced the idea of fields of force, later given mathematical form by James Clerk Maxwell.

## Legacy

Faraday's induction underlies virtually all electricity supply today, and the farad, the unit of capacitance, bears his name. His rise from tradesman's apprentice to scientific eminence, and his gift for public explanation, made him a lasting model of the experimental scientist.