Michael Faraday

Michael Faraday was born poor, the son of a blacksmith, and had almost no formal schooling. Apprenticed to a bookbinder, he educated himself by reading the very books he stitched, and his hunger for science was so plain that a famous chemist eventually took him on — first as a bottle-washer and assistant, then, in time, as a colleague who would eclipse him. He never learned much mathematics, yet he became one of the greatest experimental scientists who ever lived.

Working patiently in the basement laboratory of the Royal Institution, Faraday discovered that a moving magnet could generate an electric current — the principle behind every generator and electric motor that powers the world today. He mapped the invisible 'lines of force' of electric and magnetic fields, laying the groundwork for the whole modern theory of electromagnetism. He also delighted in sharing science with ordinary people, founding the Christmas Lectures for children that continue to this day.

A humble and deeply devout man, he turned down a knighthood and the presidency of the Royal Society, content to be plain Mr. Faraday to the end. We honor him as the self-taught genius who gave the modern world its current — proof that curiosity and patient hands, even without privilege or schooling, can uncover the deepest workings of nature and light the way for everyone who follows.