The great scientist Sir Humphry Davy was once asked by a friend to name his greatest discovery to which he replied ‘Michael Faraday’. Faraday was then working as his assistant. Later his contributions in the field of electromagnetism and electrochemistry led to the invention of many things including dynamo and motor.
Born in 1791 in a poor blacksmith family, Faraday began his career at the age of thirteen as an errand boy in a bookshop and moved along the pavements of London carrying and delivering newspapers. But his curious and inquisitive mind accompanied by hard work enabled him to reach great heights. His considerate employer in the bookshop taught him the art of book production. Thus Faraday found an access to books and devoted his spare time to reading. He had always the inherent desire to achieve something great.
One day Faraday got the opportunity to attend a lecture by Sir Humphry Davy. Faraday noted down his lectures and sent them to Sir Humphry along with suitable diagrams. In return Sir Humphry offered him the post of a laboratory assistant and Faraday served him for a long time.
When Faraday got the opportunity to work on his own, his genius flourished. Chemistry was his first love and he invented stainless steel, liquid chlorine, new kinds of optical glasses, benzene etc. he also propounded the laws of electrolysis. He got instant fame when he ventured into the field of electricity. Oersted had earlier discovered that electricity could produce magnetic effects but Faraday started thinking of the reverse phenomenon. He thought if electricity could produce magnetic effects then there must be a way for magnetism to produce electricity. Later he invented the ‘magneto electric machine’ that had a spinning disk between the poles of a magnet which became the forerunner of a dynamo. A dynamo converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. It consists of a powerful magnet and in between the poles of it a suitable conductor (a coil) is rotated. The mechanical energy generated by rotation is thus converted into an electric current in the coil.
Faraday could not make money out of his inventions as he never bothered for money. Though at some stage of his life he earned a lot of money, he remained poor in his later days. He was generous, charitable and deeply religious. He died in 1867.