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Michael Faraday, the Father of Electricity
Author: Frank Skinner
Published: July 28, 2025
Who is Michael Faraday?
Michael Faraday is sometimes referred to as the father of electricity, which is pretty remarkable given that many people don’t know of him.
Faraday’s historical recognition today is notably less than other pioneers in electricity and physics. Based on 2025 SEMRush Search Volume Report figures, Thomas Edison has 7 times the search volume of Faraday. Nikola Tesla has 10 times more volume than Faraday and Albert Einstein has 25 times more. Each of these men were pioneers in their time and their work was directly influenced by Faraday’s experimentation and findings.
Interestingly, Faraday inventions like the Faraday Cage overshadow some of his other contributions to electricity that are arguably more important, like the electric generator, the electric motor, and the transformer. The modern electric utility system is rooted in Faraday’s work.
Many people stand out in the story of electricity but Faraday’s work in magnetism, electromagnetic induction and the creation of sustained electric current are the basis of modern electricity as we know it.
Michael Faraday’s Early Life
Faraday was born in England in 1791. His family was poor and he had no formal education or training in physics, medicine, chemistry, math or science. But Faraday was very smart with a keen imagination and scientific mind. He worked in a book bindery at an early age, which gave him the opportunity to read and learn as much as he could on emerging science fields, including electricity and magnetism.
Faraday’s talents were ultimately recognized by British scientific society members. He was initially rejected for his first lab job at the British Laboratory of the Royal Institution but he was called back to fill the role after a personnel problem left an open spot.
The role was as assistant to Humphrey Davy, the inventor of the first arc light. Faraday’s achievements and scientific stature gained a reputation internationally and Faraday would later replace Davy as the Director of the Laboratory of the Royal Institution in 1825.
Historians have cited that Faraday was known as a consummate experimenter that would rather be in the lab researching than being a science showman and socialite. His passion was exploring and better understanding the world of electricity.
Faraday’s Law of Induction
While the concept of electricity was known through equipment that could make sparks, like Leyden Jars, or equipment that could store electrical charge, like Allesandro Volta’s voltaic pile battery, there was nothing that existed that could create a steady flow of electric current.
Faraday bridged the gap between the invisible forces of magnetism and their effect on creating steady electricity when magnets were moved back and forth within conductive fields to light and un-light a bulb. This is the first example of creating electricity by inducing a magnetic field to create invisible electromagnetic rotation.
Faraday’s Law of Induction states that a changing magnetic field induces electromotive force in a nearby circuit.
As Faraday’s experiments unlocked new knowledge, so too were the math and physics frameworks for explaining the relationship between electrical forces. For example, during this era German physicist Greg Ohm defined the relationship between power, voltage, current and resistance in 1826. This later became the famous Ohm’s Law, and it helped solidify mathematical understanding of electrical properties used to this day.
Faraday’s findings and the Faraday Law of Induction took the world from understanding sparks to understanding the physics of electromagnetic power that could be created, sustained, transformed and distributed.
Faraday Inventions
During the 1830s Faraday’s work inspired the first electric motors and generators to more consistently create electricity and then transfer that electricity over wires. Faraday’s work also inspired the creation of the first transformers that could change voltage up or down to make it safer and more usable for specific applications.
Electric generators create electricity that is transmitted through power lines. The power lines are connected to transformers that change the voltage of the electricity to make it usable for a variety of needs.
These Faraday inventions under pin the major components of the modern electric utility system.
According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), there are estimated to be 60-80 million distribution transformers in the United States. Those transformers would not be possible without Faraday’s initial work. Faraday’s contributions to understanding electricity cannot be overstated because a large part of modern day electric utility systems use equipment based on inventions Faraday created.
While many people played important roles in the story of electricity before and after Faraday, Faraday’s work became the basis for modern power production and distribution.
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Michael Faraday, 1791-1867