Michael Faraday (1791–1867). English. His father was a poor blacksmith. He received only a basic education. At the age of thirteen, he was working as a bookbinder’s apprentice. Michael didn’t just bind books; he read them as well. Later, as Davy’s secretary, he met the greatest physicists of his time. He was deeply religious. His scientific output was enormous. By the end of his life, his notes contained sixteen thousand entries, which he carefully transcribed and bound himself. He was an exceptional experimental physicist. We owe to Faraday the foundation of electricity in its modern form.
It is said that when a politician asked him how useful his discoveries were, Faraday replied: “I don’t know at present, but one day you will be able to tax them.”
