What did Faraday invent

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Q.� How important is that

A.� On 29 August, 1831, he discovered electro-magnetic induction, the principle behind the electric transformer and generator. It was this discovery that allowed electricity to be turned from a scientific curiosity into a powerful and crucial technology. Many consider him the greatest experimentalist. Many consider him the greatest experimentalist.

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Q.� Vital stuff, then. Did he have a scientific background

A.� No. Faraday was born in Newington Butts, Elephant and Castle, London, on 22 September, 1791. His father, James, was a blacksmith. At 14, Faraday was apprenticed as a bookbinder to George Riebau and developed his interest in science and in particular chemistry.

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Q.� How

A.� By reading Jane Marcet's Conversations on Chemistry and the scientific entries from the Encyclopaedia Britannica. And in 1810, Faraday joined the City Philosophical Society, which met every week for lectures on scientific matters. It was here that Faraday would give his first scientific lectures. In 1812, Faraday went to Humphry Davy's four lectures at the Royal Institution and later unsuccessfully asked him for a job in science.

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Q.� A setback

A.� Yes, but in 1813 the Royal Institution's chemical assistant was sacked after fighting with another employee in the lecture theatre. Davy remembered Faraday and gave him the job. For the 1810s and 1820s he worked a new apprenticeship and Davy and William Thomas Brande, his replacement as professor of chemistry.

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Q.� And he rose

A.� In 1821 he was promoted to be superintendent of the institution. The year before, the Danish natural philosopher Hans Christian Oersted had discovered electro-magnetism - which was immediately ealised to be a major event. It started Faraday on a great series of experiments that culminated in his discovery of electro-magnetic rotation - the principle behind the electric motor. Within four years he found how liquefy chlorine and discovered bicarbuet of hydrogen (later renamed benzene). On 29 August 1831, he discoverer electro-magnetic induction, the principle behind the electric transformer and generator.�� During the remainder of the 1830s Faraday worked on developing his ideas on electricity.

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Q.� Still with the institution

A.� Yes. He worked out a theory of electro-chemical action between 1832 and 1834, giving rise to the names electrode, electrolyte, anode, cathode and ion. In 1836 he was appointed scientific adviser to Trinity House, the organisation responsible for safe navigation around England and Wales. He sought to make lighthouses more efficient in the fuel they burned and in the light they produced. In the 1840s he invented a chimney that allowed much more of the products of combustion to be taken away from the lamp.

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Q.� And the end of his life

A.� He continued working in science and for Trinity House, although became increasingly ill. He was given a grace and favour house at Hampton Court where he died on 25 August, 1867. He is buried in Highgate Cemetery.

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By Steve Cunningham