Michael Faraday and the Electrical Century (Icon Science): Iwan Morus Kindle Edition

During my university years in the 60s and 70s my doctoral research involved working in the field of electrochemistry and so knowledge of Faraday and his work was essential. What I didn’t read much about though was his personal upbringing and his life in general, especially his family’s struggles during the war with France and a period of high corn prices meaning that he was forced to subsist on a single loaf of bread a week. His education can certainly be described as "basic" too.His stroke of luck was in getting a job when he was 13 as an errand boy for a bookseller and he started to read as many science books he could get his hands on. He started doing his own experiments too.This book is an interesting read for anyone interested in not only the life of one of our greatest scientists, but also the times in which he lived surrounded by other great scientists and the "machinations" of the Royal Society. Faraday became an apprentice to Humphrey Davy from whom he learned a great deal and had many doors opened for him. However Michael Faraday was NOT a "gentleman chemist" and this, together with his view about science and its utility, ultimately resulted in his being denied entry to the RS eleven times…… probably undermined by Davy himself!The book is well structured chronologically, is readable by non scientists, and brilliantly describes the characters of so many scientists of the day. Politics plays a part too as does the rivalries between many of the players. We owe these scientists a great deal for our standard of living today and they need to be remembered and honoured without any "presentism" clouding our judgement.

Despite its title ‘Michael Faraday and the electrical century’ this book is neither a biography of Michael Faraday or a good overview of the 19th century in terms of electrical innovation and development. It fails on both counts.While the author says in the prologue that “this is not, therefore, a conventional biography. It does not aim to give the kind of detailed and exhaustive account of Faraday’s life that a proper biography should”. In that case why the misleading title? This book is a huge disappointment, and immensely frustrating as Faraday is a key contributor to the development of electrical innovation in the 19th century but this book does not even scratch the surface of what he contributed to such an exciting century of discovery. Avoid!It is also written in very simplistic style with the kind of narrative you would find in a children’s book. The illustrations provided are also very poor reproductions. Overall a waste of money.

Excellent condition, well packed and arrived on time

Brilliant book

Satisfactory

Great