Michael Faraday was born at Newington Butts, south of the City of London, on 22 September 1791. His father, James, was a blacksmith, and Faraday received little formal education.

At 13, he began working for the bookseller and bookbinder George Riebau and later became his apprentice. Faraday read some of the books passing through the shop and developed an interest in science. He also attended public lectures and kept careful notes of what he heard.

In 1813, Faraday became a laboratory assistant at the Royal Institution. His work there developed into a career in experimental science. In 1821, he demonstrated electromagnetic rotation, an early form of the electric motor. He isolated benzene in 1825 and discovered electromagnetic induction in 1831.

Faraday also carried out important work in electrochemistry and developed ideas about electromagnetic fields. In 1833, he became the Royal Institution’s Fullerian Professor of Chemistry, a position he held for the rest of his life.