(1791 - 1867) Born to a poor family in London, he was extremely
curious, questioning everything. He felt an urgent need to know
more. At age 13, he became an errand boy for a bookbinding shop
in London. He read every book that he bound, and decided that
one day he would write a book of his own. He became interested
in the concept of energy, or more specifically, force. Because
of his early reading and experiments with the idea of force, he
was able to make important discoveries in electricity later in
life. He eventually became a chemist and physicist. He isolated
benzene (a clear, colorless, flammable liquid derived from
petroleum and used to manufacture motor fuels). He performed
experiments demonstrating discovery of electromagnetic
induction. This discovery paved the way for changing mechanical
energy into electrical energy. Links to other Websites: Picture
credit: B&W image from an oil on canvas portrait of Faraday by
Thomas Phillips. Portrait is on display at England's National
Portrait Gallery. For inf