Experimental Researches in Electricity

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Courier Corporation, 2004 M07 15 - 336 pages
Michael Faraday (1791–1867) was the greatest physicist of the nineteenth century, a pioneer in experimentation in the fields of electricity and magnetism. He is best known for his discovery of the principle of electromagnetic induction and the laws of electrolysis. In Experimental Researches in Electricity, first published in three volumes between 1839 and 1855, Faraday discusses the inquiries that led to his development of the first dynamo (the precursor of modern dynamos and generators), and his establishment of the foundations of classical field theory. His descriptions contain scarcely a hint of mathematics, and he relates the progress of his experiments in direct, clear language. Using the primitive tools available to him in his time, in conjunction with his great imaginative gifts, Faraday explains how he arrived at his profound conclusions with stunning simplicity.
"The writing is interesting and the expositions are impressive." — Florida Scientist. 1914 edition.
 

Selected pages

Contents

I IDENTITY OF ELECTRICITIES DERIVED FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES
1
Voltaic Electricity
3
Ordinary Electricity
7
MagnetoElectricity
22
ThermoElectricity
24
RELATION BY MEASURE OF COMMON AND VOLTAIC ELECTRICITY
27
3 ON A NEW LAW OF ELECTRIC CONDUCTION
32
ON CONDUCTING POWER GENERALLY
41
Theory of Electrochemical Decomposition
55
POWER OF PLATINA ETC TO INDUCE COMBINATION
84
iv Some General Conditions of Electrochemical Decomposition
115
v On a new Measurer of Voltaelectricity
122
7 On the absolute quantity of Electricity associated with the particles or atoms of Matter
163
i On simple Voltaic Circles
172
Electrolytic Intensity
203
iii On associated Voltaic Circles or the Voltaic Battery
211

ELECTROCHEMICAL DECOMPOSITION
47
New conditions of Electrochemical Decomposition
48
Influence of Water in Electrochemical Decomposition
54
iv On the Resistance of an Electrolyte to Electrolytic Action and on Interpositions
218
v General Remarks on the Active Voltaic Battery
226
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About the author (2004)

Michael Faraday: An Electric Personality
A major figure in nineteenth-century science, Michael Faraday (1791–1867) made immense contributions to the study of electricity and magnetism, discovering the laws of electromagnetic induction and electrolysis. His experiments are the foundation of subsequent electromagnetic technology. He also had a sense of humor. When the Prime Minister of England William Gladstone asked Faraday what the usefulness of electricity would be, Faraday famously replied, "Why, Sir, there is every possibility that you will soon be able to tax it!" In addition to being a great experimenter, Faraday had the gift of exposition for a popular audience, as seen in the books which Dover has reprinted, The Forces of Matter (2010), Experimental Researches in Electricity (2004), and perhaps his most famous single book for the general reader, The Chemical History of a Candle (2003).

It is reliably reported that Einstein had a photograph of Faraday on the wall of his study alongside portraits of Isaac Newton and James Clerk Maxwell.

In the Author's Own Words:
"The world little knows how many of the thoughts and theories which have passed through the mind of a scientific investigator have been crushed in silence and secrecy by his own severe criticism and adverse examination: that in the most successful instances not a tenth of the suggestions, the hopes, the wishes, the preliminary conclusions have been realized." — Michael Faraday

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