Michael Faraday

from Writer's Almanac today:

Today is the birthday of English scientist of electromagnetics and electrochemistry Michael Faraday (books by this author), born in London (1791). His research on the magnetic field around a conductor carrying an electrical current laid the basis of our understanding of the electromagnetic field. He made some of the most major discoveries in physics. Albert Einstein kept a picture of him on his wall, along with a picture of Isaac Newton.

Faraday used his reputation and his skills as a chemist to push for better environmental conditions. He studied industrial air pollution and wrote a letter to the Times of London calling for a cleanup of the Thames. The British government tried to hire him to help create chemical weapons for use in the Crimean War, but Faraday refused for moral reasons.

He gave a series of 19 Christmas lectures to young people at the Royal Institute. His teaching style was approachable and playful; he would ask students to question why the most basic scientific processes happened, such as why ice floats in water. Faraday said, "That point of self-education which consists in teaching the mind to resist its desires and inclinations, until they are proven to be right, is the most important of all."

Faraday refused several major honors in his career. He was offered a knighthood, which he declined for religious reasons and said he wanted to be "plain Mr. Faraday to the end." He refused to be the president of the Royal Society when the position was offered — twice — and he also rejected a burial in Westminster Abbey after his death.

Michael Faraday made such important discoveries in physics and chemistry because he resisted his assumptions until he could prove them with facts. He said, "There's nothing quite as frightening as someone who knows they are right."