Description

 

Scope: Michael Faraday was without doubt one of the most important scientists of the nineteenth century; his discoveries laid the foundation for the science and technology of electricity and its applications which dominate the modern world.

The complete Correspondence, which will comprise six volumes, is a landmark resource for all historians of science and technology. Nearly two-thirds of the letters in this 4th volume are previously unpublished. They concern Faraday's work on such diverse topics as terrestrial and atmospheric magnetism, the electrification of lighthouses and the theory of telegraphic retardation, as well as advice to the Government on the war with Russia, his exclusion from the Sandemanian Church and his views on table turning. Correspondence with such figures as Thomson, Babbage, Brunel, Schoenbein and Whewell.

Book review

"These notes have been prepared with meticulous care....Taken together these notes constitute a rich source book for the intellectual and cultural history of the first part of the nineteenth century. Each volume contains a detailed index, which makes it easy to use....No library specialising in the history of science and technology can disregard these volumes." Ambix, Vol. 40, Part 1, March 2001
"....one of the most important publishing ventures in the history of science in recent years." The Times Higher Education Supplement, 22 September 2000

Book readership

Historians and sociologists of science, technology and engineering; historians of the nineteenth century and the industrial revolution; all major libraries serving departments of electrical engineering, chemistry and physics.

Level

Reference