Popular Science Review - Michael Faraday and the Electrical Century

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Review - Michael Faraday and the Electrical Century - Iwan Rhys Morus

Faraday presents, without doubt a fascinating subject. Not only a consummate scientist (I can't agree with those who claim he wasn't a scientist, because he didn't like the word, which was only coined in the 1830s) and a superb lecturer, he epitomised the capacity of self-improvement that it's impossible not to admire.

Morus tells us that his book isn't so much a biography as a description of the electrical world of the 19th century hung upon Faraday - a sort of Frankenstein's Children lite (this being Morus's major book on the subject). It's true that some of the most fascinating insights about the way electricity was treated as dangerous and radical (or bizarre developments like Crosse's supposedly electrically produced insects) have nothing to do with Faraday. And he spends a fair while describing the various long gone vehicles for bringing (largely electrical) science to the masses, like the Royal Polytechnic Institution. But Morus does bring out some interesting thoughts on the man himself.

He points out that Faraday's self-made image may be true - but he was heartily helped along the way by others, notably Davy. And he offers the best explanation I've ever seen of the strange way that Davy rejected his own protégé and tried to block Faraday's election to the Royal Society. However, it's also worth saying that Morus's intention not to write a comprehensive biography doesn't excuse the occasional gross omission - most obviously failing to mention Faraday's first brief employment as secretary by Davy, suggesting instead that his first contact was when he applied to be laboratory assistant.

There's a lot that's good about this book, but it is occasionally let down by rather clumsy writing. Take a couple of instances from the prologue. "But was electricity just down to Faraday?" - it's rather doubtful that electricity was "down to" anyone. Or "Just what the relationship was between science and industry was a real hot potato for Faraday's contemporaries." It simply doesn't work very well, which made the book a less enjoyable read than it should have been.

Only in hardback. As mentioned above, Morus also wrote the more substantial Frankenstein's Children covering the wider history of electricity, which is shown in the Amazon.com box, as the Faraday book is not available in the US.

Reviewed by Brian Clegg

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