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The Electric Life of Michael Faraday

by Alan W Hirshfeld

The Electric Life of Michael Faraday Cover

ISBN13: 9780802714701
ISBN10: 0802714706
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Review:

"Nineteenth-century English scientist Faraday, who made the revolutionary discovery that electricity, magnetism and light are all related, personified the self-made man. Son of a blacksmith, Faraday (1791 — 1867) was apprenticed at an early age to a bookbinder, who encouraged him to pursue the interest in science that he'd gained from reading the books that crossed his workbench. By a great stroke of luck, he went to work for the eminent scientist Sir Humphry Davy. As physicist Hirshfeld (Parallax) relates, from that point on, Faraday proved unstoppable as he made important discoveries in every field he applied himself to. His breakthrough came when he discovered that he could induce an electric current by moving a magnet inside a coil of wire. This led to his development of the dynamo, precursor to the electric motor. Equally important, Faraday hypothesized that electromagnetism extended into space via lines of flux. Faraday's background in mathematics was weak, so he couldn't prove this, but a young scientist he befriended late in his career, James Clerk Maxwell, finally did. In an elegantly written biography, Hirshfeld, winner of a Templeton Foundation prize for an essay on Faraday, captures the scientist's rough-and-tumble times, and most readers will be able to follow his clear descriptions of Faraday's achievements. 18 b&w illus." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Book News Annotation:

Hirshfeld (physics, U. of Massachusetts-Dartmouth) does not quibble with the storybook version of Faraday (1791-1867) as a poor, unschooled bookbinder's apprentice who through sheer gumption and timely luck surmounted adversity and class prejudice in 19th-century England to become the greatest experimental scientist of his time. He adds that he was one of the giants of science free of blinding preconceptions about nature, and thus endowed with a vision denied his contemporaries. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
a reader, June 26, 2007 (view all comments by a reader)
Alan Hirshfeld is our best popularizer of science these days, more insightful and accomplished than Dava Sobel or Amir Aczel. He has a flawless instinct for what are the most important controversies and people that created the scientific world we live in, as well as a mastery of the techniques of fiction which can be used to enrich non-fiction.

The discoveries of Faraday and Clerk Maxwell (who is also covered in this book) should be understood by all educated people. These men created the modern profession of theoretical physicist, culminating in the almost miraculous discovery of a question that had troubled everyone from Thales to Galileo: What is light?

I would also give highest recommendation Hirshfeld's 'Parallax: the Race to Measure the Cosmos'.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780802714701
Author:
Hirshfeld, Alan W
Publisher:
Walker & Company
Author:
Hirshfeld, Alan W.
Author:
Hirshfeld, Alan
Subject:
General
Subject:
Great britain
Subject:
General science
Subject:
Physicists
Subject:
Scientists - General
Subject:
Faraday, Michael
Subject:
Physicists -- Great Britain.
Subject:
Biography-Scientists
Copyright:
2006
Edition Description:
Hardcover
Publication Date:
20060331
Binding:
HARDCOVER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
10 BandW images
Pages:
256
Dimensions:
8.51 x 5.7 x 1.09 in
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The Electric Life of Michael Faraday Used Hardcover
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Product details 256 pages Walker & Company - English 9780802714701 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "Nineteenth-century English scientist Faraday, who made the revolutionary discovery that electricity, magnetism and light are all related, personified the self-made man. Son of a blacksmith, Faraday (1791 — 1867) was apprenticed at an early age to a bookbinder, who encouraged him to pursue the interest in science that he'd gained from reading the books that crossed his workbench. By a great stroke of luck, he went to work for the eminent scientist Sir Humphry Davy. As physicist Hirshfeld (Parallax) relates, from that point on, Faraday proved unstoppable as he made important discoveries in every field he applied himself to. His breakthrough came when he discovered that he could induce an electric current by moving a magnet inside a coil of wire. This led to his development of the dynamo, precursor to the electric motor. Equally important, Faraday hypothesized that electromagnetism extended into space via lines of flux. Faraday's background in mathematics was weak, so he couldn't prove this, but a young scientist he befriended late in his career, James Clerk Maxwell, finally did. In an elegantly written biography, Hirshfeld, winner of a Templeton Foundation prize for an essay on Faraday, captures the scientist's rough-and-tumble times, and most readers will be able to follow his clear descriptions of Faraday's achievements. 18 b&w illus." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
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