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Shortly after the death of Faraday in 1867, three biographies of him—each admirable in its own line—were published. The “Life and Letters of Faraday,” by Dr. Bence Jones, secretary of the Royal Institution, which was issued in 1868 in two volumes, has long been out of print. “Faraday as a Discoverer,” written in 1868 by Professor Tyndall, which, though slighter as a record, brings out many points of character into striking relief, is also now exhausted. Dr. Gladstone’s “Michael Faraday,” published in 1872, so rich in reminiscences, and so appreciative of the moral and religious side of his character, is also out of print. Other and briefer biographies exist; the “Éloge Historique” of M. Dumas; the article “Faraday” in the “Encyclopædia Britannica” by Professor Clerk Maxwell; and the chapter on Faraday in Dr. W. Garnett’s “Heroes of Science.” But there seems room for another account of the life and labours of the man whose influence upon the century in which he lived was so great. For forty years he was a living and inspiring voice in the Royal Institution, beyond all question the greatest scientific expositor of his time. Throughout almost the whole of that time his original researches in physics, and chiefly in electricity, were extending the boundaries of knowledge and laying the foundations not only for the great developments of electrical engineering of the last twenty years but for those still greater developments in the theories of electricity, magnetism, and light which are every year being extended and made fruitful. Were there no other reason than these developments in practice and theory, they would amply justify the effort to review now, after so many years, the position of Faraday amongst the eminent men of the century now drawing to its close.

Those who were intimately acquainted with him are a fast dwindling band. In the recollection of such as have survived him, his image lives and moves, surrounded with gracious memories, a vivid personality instinct with rare and unselfish kindliness. But the survivors are few, and their ranks grow thinner with each succeeding year. And so it comes about that the task of writing of his life and work has been entrusted to one who never ceases to regret that he never met Faraday.

Thanks to the permission of the managers of the Royal Institution, a number of short extracts from Faraday’s notebooks, hitherto unpublished, are now printed for the first time. Much more remains which it is to be hoped, for the benefit of science, may be published ere long. The author desires further to acknowledge the kindness of Messrs. Longmans & Co. in allowing the reproduction of the illustrations on pages 3 and 258, which are taken from Bence Jones’s “Life and Letters of Faraday,” published in 1868. Mr. Elkin Mathews has kindly permitted the insertion of the sonnet by Mr. Cosmo Monkhouse which follows the title-page. The author is also indebted to Dr. J. Hall Gladstone, F.R.S., for many valuable notes and suggestions, and to Miss M.K. Reynolds for photographs used in preparing Fig.14. Most of all he is indebted to Miss Jane Barnard for access to Faraday’s private papers, and for permission to print certain extracts from them.

S.P.T.