1-158-640 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Michael Faraday, English chemist and physicist, 1842. Faraday (1791-1867) was one of the greatest scientists of the 19th century, and is considered by many to be the greatest experimentalist who ever lived. His most significant contribution was the Experimental Researches on Electricity which was published over 40 years, where he described his discoveries, including the laws of electromagnetic induction (1831) and the laws of electrolysis (1833). He also discovered the principles of the electric motor and dynamo. From the National Portrait Gallery, London.