The Electric Life of Michael Faraday
Written by: Alan W. Hirshfeld
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Summary: Just a Little Technical for a Layman
Comment: The lack of five stars is more a problem with me than the book. Just like Faraday who was lost in most mathematical expressions of his work, I just have a lack of background to understanding the electrical, electro-magnetic and magnetic physics to appreciate Professor Hirshfeld's explanations. But the rest of the book tends to be a good story until he gets into Faraday's later life.
Past the age of his mid-forties, Faraday begins to have 'brain exhaustion' and he must leave his work for periods to 'recharge' his mind. Later in life he seems to have suffered from loss of memory and recall which seems to be a type of 'organic brain syndrome' or senility. This is where Hirshfeld loses his ability as a biographer and becomes a scientist. Hirshfeld doesn't seem to explore at all what is happening to Faraday or how he worked around it.
Having been born with dyslexia, which in my case is more related to numbers than letters, there are ways that I (like most people so afflicted) have learned to 'work around' it. I've developed double checks and such to correct my math and my spelling. It would be interesting to see how this man who experimented so meticulously was able to protect the integrity of experiments. He could also have spent some more time on his marriage of over forty years.
Zeb Kantrowitz
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Electric Life of Michael Faraday
Comment: I would have loved living in the time and place of Michael Faraday and to have been privileged to attend the Royal Institutes Friday night lecture series when Faraday was speaker!
Although I knew of Faraday and some of his accomplishments, I knew little about the man. This book puts a heart in his chest, and a soul in his being that makes of this common man a role model for all time.
Customer Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Book
Comment: I bought this book based on a recommendation from a prior review. I thoroughly enjoyed this work on Michael Faraday. There was so much information on his life and adventures not often readily documented. It was a well written and easy to absorb story. It's helped me keep touch with the human side of my Physics / Chemistry research.
Well worth the purchase price.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nice Little Biography of a Great Experimentalist
Comment: It seems to be a sad truth of the rarefied kind of fame that comes to scientists that the biggest names are the theoreticians. The experimentalist, when remembered at all, is usually recalled in association with some great theoretical leap forward. True, there are a handful of experiments that are remembered by name: Rutherford's gold foil experiment, Milikan's oil drop experiment, the Michelson/Morley experiment. And, also true, Galileo and Newton were great experimentalists though this is often put second to their other achievements. Still, more respect should be paid to those men and women down in the trenches of science, digging for facts in the face of reality.
A perfect example of someone deserving more fame and respect is Michael Faraday. His work in the area of electromagnetism changed modern science and much of the experimental equipment he built with his own hands laid the groundwork for the electric-generating and consuming infrastructure we still use. Not only that, his theoretical conceptualization of "lines of force" was the basis for modern field theory, despite the fact that his theoretical work was often denigrated by his peers until James Clerk Maxwell brought it to mathematical fruition.
As for this book, Professor Hirshfeld does a fine job of honoring Faraday's achievements. He has a nice way of making the science understandable as well as an ability to convey the process Faraday went through to achieve what he did.
Of course, Hirshfeld is lucky to have an interesting personal story to relate in Faraday. Basically uneducated and apprenticed to a bookbinder, Faraday was well on his way to obscurity in the book trade despite his love of science when, through perseverance and luck, he managed to get a job as an assistant to Humphrey Davy, one of the great scientists of his day. Over the course of the years that follow, he proceeds to surpass his one-time mentor in the face of the class bigotries of the day. In spite of it all, he remained a humble and religious man who combined public service with his private work and fights through many bouts of ill health. It is a great "rags to riches" tale that Hirshfeld handles well, if not brilliantly. His prose falls a bit flat occasionally but I liked seeing the many quotes from Faraday's own writings.
In the annals of experiment, there may be no greater scientist than Michael Faraday. (The British at least have the sense to put his likeness on the 20 pound note. We could use that kind of public appreciation for science in the U.S.) This nice biography provides a solid and readable introduction to Faraday's like and work. Hopefully, it will bring him more of the fame he deserves.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Science Writing at its Best
Comment: This book succeeds on many levels:
It's an indelible portrait of Faraday and shows how his personality affected his pursuit of science.
It illustrates the importance of the inevitable "mistakes" that scientists encounter in their tortuous paths to understanding the nature of the universe. (One of the many insightful quotes that the author includes is from Einstein: "Science is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.")
It gives us insight into the politics of science in early 19th century England--politics that are very similar to those that affect the careers of scientists in the 21st century.
We learn that science was a hot topic in London at this time--perhaps more so than it is today. The general public flocked to evening lectures by scientists. Faraday was particularly adept at using demonstrations that delighted a wide audience (including even children)--demonstrations that helped them to understand complex ideas in practical terms.
The book shows how much can be learned about the universe from experiment alone, but how a deeper understanding can be gained only by relating experiment to theory and mathematics (fields that Faraday acknowledged were beyond his reach).
The author's descriptions of Faraday's experiments are understandable without being patronizing. Physics students at all levels will gain a deeper insight into the nature of electromagnetism than they can get from most textbooks.
I've never read a better book on the history of science.
Dewey Decimal Number: 530.092
EAN: 9780802714701
ISBN: 0802714706
Label: Walker & Company
Manufacturer: Walker & Company
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: 2006-03-07
Publisher: Walker & Company
Release Date: 2006-03-07
Studio: Walker & Company
 | Format: Hardcover List Price: $24.00 Our Price: $16.32 Your Save: $ 7.68 ( 32% ) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Average Customer Rating: |
Editorial Reviews:
If you like "The Electric Life of Michael Faraday, you might also like ...
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Just a Little Technical for a Layman
Comment: The lack of five stars is more a problem with me than the book. Just like Faraday who was lost in most mathematical expressions of his work, I just have a lack of background to understanding the electrical, electro-magnetic and magnetic physics to appreciate Professor Hirshfeld's explanations. But the rest of the book tends to be a good story until he gets into Faraday's later life.
Past the age of his mid-forties, Faraday begins to have 'brain exhaustion' and he must leave his work for periods to 'recharge' his mind. Later in life he seems to have suffered from loss of memory and recall which seems to be a type of 'organic brain syndrome' or senility. This is where Hirshfeld loses his ability as a biographer and becomes a scientist. Hirshfeld doesn't seem to explore at all what is happening to Faraday or how he worked around it.
Having been born with dyslexia, which in my case is more related to numbers than letters, there are ways that I (like most people so afflicted) have learned to 'work around' it. I've developed double checks and such to correct my math and my spelling. It would be interesting to see how this man who experimented so meticulously was able to protect the integrity of experiments. He could also have spent some more time on his marriage of over forty years.
Zeb Kantrowitz
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Electric Life of Michael Faraday
Comment: I would have loved living in the time and place of Michael Faraday and to have been privileged to attend the Royal Institutes Friday night lecture series when Faraday was speaker!
Although I knew of Faraday and some of his accomplishments, I knew little about the man. This book puts a heart in his chest, and a soul in his being that makes of this common man a role model for all time.
Customer Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Book
Comment: I bought this book based on a recommendation from a prior review. I thoroughly enjoyed this work on Michael Faraday. There was so much information on his life and adventures not often readily documented. It was a well written and easy to absorb story. It's helped me keep touch with the human side of my Physics / Chemistry research.
Well worth the purchase price.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nice Little Biography of a Great Experimentalist
Comment: It seems to be a sad truth of the rarefied kind of fame that comes to scientists that the biggest names are the theoreticians. The experimentalist, when remembered at all, is usually recalled in association with some great theoretical leap forward. True, there are a handful of experiments that are remembered by name: Rutherford's gold foil experiment, Milikan's oil drop experiment, the Michelson/Morley experiment. And, also true, Galileo and Newton were great experimentalists though this is often put second to their other achievements. Still, more respect should be paid to those men and women down in the trenches of science, digging for facts in the face of reality.
A perfect example of someone deserving more fame and respect is Michael Faraday. His work in the area of electromagnetism changed modern science and much of the experimental equipment he built with his own hands laid the groundwork for the electric-generating and consuming infrastructure we still use. Not only that, his theoretical conceptualization of "lines of force" was the basis for modern field theory, despite the fact that his theoretical work was often denigrated by his peers until James Clerk Maxwell brought it to mathematical fruition.
As for this book, Professor Hirshfeld does a fine job of honoring Faraday's achievements. He has a nice way of making the science understandable as well as an ability to convey the process Faraday went through to achieve what he did.
Of course, Hirshfeld is lucky to have an interesting personal story to relate in Faraday. Basically uneducated and apprenticed to a bookbinder, Faraday was well on his way to obscurity in the book trade despite his love of science when, through perseverance and luck, he managed to get a job as an assistant to Humphrey Davy, one of the great scientists of his day. Over the course of the years that follow, he proceeds to surpass his one-time mentor in the face of the class bigotries of the day. In spite of it all, he remained a humble and religious man who combined public service with his private work and fights through many bouts of ill health. It is a great "rags to riches" tale that Hirshfeld handles well, if not brilliantly. His prose falls a bit flat occasionally but I liked seeing the many quotes from Faraday's own writings.
In the annals of experiment, there may be no greater scientist than Michael Faraday. (The British at least have the sense to put his likeness on the 20 pound note. We could use that kind of public appreciation for science in the U.S.) This nice biography provides a solid and readable introduction to Faraday's like and work. Hopefully, it will bring him more of the fame he deserves.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Science Writing at its Best
Comment: This book succeeds on many levels:
It's an indelible portrait of Faraday and shows how his personality affected his pursuit of science.
It illustrates the importance of the inevitable "mistakes" that scientists encounter in their tortuous paths to understanding the nature of the universe. (One of the many insightful quotes that the author includes is from Einstein: "Science is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.")
It gives us insight into the politics of science in early 19th century England--politics that are very similar to those that affect the careers of scientists in the 21st century.
We learn that science was a hot topic in London at this time--perhaps more so than it is today. The general public flocked to evening lectures by scientists. Faraday was particularly adept at using demonstrations that delighted a wide audience (including even children)--demonstrations that helped them to understand complex ideas in practical terms.
The book shows how much can be learned about the universe from experiment alone, but how a deeper understanding can be gained only by relating experiment to theory and mathematics (fields that Faraday acknowledged were beyond his reach).
The author's descriptions of Faraday's experiments are understandable without being patronizing. Physics students at all levels will gain a deeper insight into the nature of electromagnetism than they can get from most textbooks.
I've never read a better book on the history of science.
Technical Details
Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 530.092
EAN: 9780802714701
ISBN: 0802714706
Label: Walker & Company
Manufacturer: Walker & Company
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: 2006-03-07
Publisher: Walker & Company
Release Date: 2006-03-07
Studio: Walker & Company
