Experimental Researches in Electricity

by Faraday, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780486435053
• ISBN10: 0486435059
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-07-15
• Publisher: Dover Publications

Summary

Michael Faraday (17911867) was the greatest physicist of the 19th century, a pioneer 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 word of mathematics, and he relates the progress of his experiments in direct, clear language. 1914 ed. 80 figures.

Author Biography

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

Table of Contents

Preface	p. v
Biographical Note	p. vii
Identity of Electricities from Different Sources	p. 1
Voltaic Electricity	p. 3
Ordinary Electricity	p. 7
Magneto-Electricity	p. 22
Thermo-Electricity	p. 24
Animal Electricity	p. 24
Relation by Measure of Common and Voltaic Electricity	p. 27
New Law of Electric Conduction	p. 32
On Conducting Power generally	p. 41
Electro-chemical Decomposition	p. 47
New Conditions of Electro-chemical Decomposition	p. 48
Influence of Water in such Decomposition	p. 54
Theory of Electro-chemical Decomposition	p. 55
Power of Platina, etc., to induce Combination	p. 84
Electro-chemical Decomposition--Continued (Nomenclature)	p. 111
Some General Conditions of Electro-chemical Decomposition	p. 115
Volta-electrometer	p. 122
Primary and Secondary Results	p. 133
Definite Nature and Extent of Electrochemical Forces	p. 145
Absolute Quantity of Electricity in the Molecules of Matter	p. 163
Electricity of the Voltaic Pile	p. 172
Simple Voltaic Circles	p. 172
Electrolytic Intensity	p. 203
Associated Voltaic Circles; or Battery	p. 211
Resistance of an Electrolyte to Decomposition	p. 218
General Remarks on the Active Battery	p. 226
On the Source of Power in the Voltaic Pile	p. 232
Exciting Electrolytes being Good Conductors	p. 238
Inactive Conducting Circles containing an Electrolyte	p. 241
Active Circles containing Sulphuret of Potassium	p. 259
On the Source of Power in the Voltaic Pile--Continued	p. 271
The Exciting Chemical Force affected by Temperature	p. 271
The Exciting Chemical Force affected by Dilution	p. 284
Differences in the Order of the Metallic Elements of Voltaic Circles	p. 295
Active Voltaic Circles and Batteries without Metallic Contact	p. 298
Considerations of the Sufficiency of Chemical Action	p. 302
Thermo-electric Evidence	p. 308
Improbable Nature of the Assumed Contact Force	p. 312
On a Peculiar Voltaic Condition of Iron (Schoenbein)	p. 317
On a Peculiar Voltaic Condition of Iron (Faraday)	p. 321
Index	p. 333
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