Faraday's Diary of Experimental Investigation - 2nd edition, Vol. 1

by Michael Faraday, Thomas Martin (Editor), Royal Institution of Great Britain (Producer)

This is the first of seven volumes of "Experimental Notes" made by Michael Faraday during the years 1820-1862; bequeathed by him to the Royal Institution of Great Britain and known today as "Faraday's Diary"; now republished for the first time since the original printing in 1936 by exclusive arrangement with the Royal Institution; includes the complete 1st edition manuscript edited by Thomas Martin with index, photographs and thousands of illustrations in Faraday's own hand. "Faraday is generally held to be one of the greatest of all experimental philosophers. Nearly every science is in his and some sciences owe their existence mainly to his work. The liquefaction of gases, benzene, electro-magnetic induction, specific inductive capacity, lines of force, 'magnetic conduction' or permeability, the dark discharge, anode, cathode, magneto-optics, electro-chemical equivalent; all these terms suggest fundamental researches which he made, and many of them were called into existence in order to describe his discoveries." --Sir William H. Bragg, Director of the Laboratory of the Royal Institution (1932). Annotation (c) 2008 The Royal Institution of Great Britain. (Vol. 1 - ISBN 9780981908311, paperbound, 532 pp, 6.69 x 9.61 in.); (Vol. 2 - ISBN 9780981908328, paperbound, 560 pp, 6.69 x 9.61 in.); (Vol. 3 - ISBN 9780981908335, paperbound, 552 pp, 6.69 x 9.61 in.); (Vol. 4 - ISBN 9780981908342, paperbound, 536 pp, 6.69 x 9.61 in.); (Vol. 5 - ISBN 9780981908359, paperbound, 544 pp, 6.69 x 9.61 in.); (Vol. 6 - ISBN 9780981908366, paperbound, 592 pp, 6.69 x 9.61 in.); (Vol. 7 - ISBN 9780981908373, paperbound, 556 pp, 6.69 x 9.61 in.). The index volume (v.8) of the 1st edition is integrated into the seven main volumes of this 2nd edition. Hardcover and electronic editions may be available at www.FaradaysDiary.com. Published by HR 2420 W. Victorian Way, Riverton, UT 84065, USA. 2008932344. The Library of Congress has catalogued the 1936 first edition Faraday, Michael, 1791-1867; Faraday's Diary; being the various philosophical notes of experimental investigation made by Michael Faraday...during the years 1820-1862 and bequeathed by him to the Royal Institution of Great Britain, now, by order of the managers, printed and published for the first time, under the editorial supervision of Thomas Martin...with a foreword by Sir William H. Bragg...; v. cm. index; [1. Chemistry. 2. Physics.] I. Martin, Thomas, 1893- ed.; II. Royal Institution of Great Britain; III. Title; Q113 .F23. Other classification 508.F219F-USCL, OCoLC 877797 / 10542360.

532 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2008

About the author

Michael Faraday, FRS (22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include those of electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism and electrolysis.

Although Faraday received little formal education, he was one of the most influential scientists in history. It was by his research on the magnetic field around a conductor carrying a direct current that Faraday established the basis for the concept of the electromagnetic field in physics. Faraday also established that magnetism could affect rays of light and that there was an underlying relationship between the two phenomena. He similarly discovered the principle of electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism, and the laws of electrolysis. His inventions of electromagnetic rotary devices formed the foundation of electric motor technology, and it was largely due to his efforts that electricity became practical for use in technology.

As a chemist, Faraday discovered benzene, investigated the clathrate hydrate of chlorine, invented an early form of the Bunsen burner and the system of oxidation numbers, and popularised terminology such as anode, cathode, electrode, and ion. Faraday ultimately became the first and foremost Fullerian Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, a lifetime position.

Faraday was an excellent experimentalist who conveyed his ideas in clear and simple language; his mathematical abilities, however, did not extend as far as trigonometry or any but the simplest algebra. James Clerk Maxwell took the work of Faraday and others, and summarized it in a set of equations that is accepted as the basis of all modern theories of electromagnetic phenomena. On Faraday's uses of the lines of force, Maxwell wrote that they show Faraday "to have been in reality a mathematician of a very high order – one from whom the mathematicians of the future may derive valuable and fertile methods." The SI unit of capacitance, the farad, is named in his honour.

Albert Einstein kept a picture of Faraday on his study wall, alongside pictures of Isaac Newton and James Clerk Maxwell. Physicist Ernest Rutherford stated; "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".