A Well-known Wireless Pioneer

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 35, 14 March 1930, Page 21

A Well-known Wireless Pioneer

Faraday-Inventor and Constructor

EW of those listeners who speak freely to-day of the merits or demerits of .0003 or .0005 microfarad condensers, realise that they are psying an unwitting tribute to the memory of a man who has been described as one of the greatest physicists that ever lived. This may, in the light of the advancement of the knowledge of physics during the present century, appear. to be a rather overwhelming claim, but it is by no means extravagant when applied to Faraday. Science is full of romance-though it is not always apparent. A very small incident may influence the policy of a nation or the life of an individual. So it was with Faraday, whose early employment was that of a journeyman bookbinder, and it was in this vocation that he came in contact with a customer who was a member of the Royal Institution. _ Faratay was not in love with trade from the ordinary point of view. It did not appeal to him; in fact, he regarded it as selfish and debasing. It is not, therefore, very surprising when this young man was given a ticket by Mr. Dance, the member referred t», for a lecture at the Royal Institution, that he decided to throw himself heart and soul into the exploration of some of the hidden mysteries of nature. This lecture was the last of a series of four delivered by Davy, and Faraday made voluminous notes, which he afterwards copied in fair form, and sent to Davy, explaining at the same time how much he loathed the idea of trade and how he wished to desert it and follow science. This letter mot with a kindly reply from Davy, but something better than this reply was to follow, for soon after a letter was brought to his house late at night by Davy’s servant asking him to call at the Royal Institution for an interview. The immediate result was that he was engaged as Davy’s assistant at twenty-five shillings a week. ‘The ultimate result is the famous DavyFaraday Laboratory of to-day. Men of science had long believed that there was an intimate relation between magnetism and electricitr, but. evidence was lacking to prove this to be a fact. Faraday provided the evidence. In doing so he laid the foundation of electro-magnetism as we know it and paved the way for the dynamo, motor, induction coil, or transformer, and all the variations of these that have placed electricity at the service of mankind. Since almost everyone who uses a valve set employs an audio-frequency transformer, it may be interesting to consider Faraday’s first induction coil. It consisted of a simple iron ring, with separate windings on each semi-circle, there being no connection between the two coils. After many experiments he found that if a current was allowed to pass through one winding, and then stopped, there was a momentary difference of potential "induced" in the other at the instant of making and breaking circuit. on

i] Call one the primary and the other the secondary, and you have the soul of the transformer as it was, is, and must remain-the most important factor in the transmission of light, heat, power and wireless, , ON August 28, 1881, Faraday made his ‘first successful experiment in elec-tro-magnetie induction. Later in the same year he described his discovery at a meeting of the Royal Society. This may be called the birthday of electromagnetism. So it came about that the foundation of the whole of electrical engineering was given to the world by means of a simple paper read by a man who expressed himself always with the greatest simplicity. The publication of Faraday’s diary is, at the moment, under consideration, and it is to be hoped that it will, in due course, be available for those who desire to study seriously the development of electrical engineering. It is intended this year to hold centenary celebrations in Faraday’s honour, and it is anticipated that the publication of his diary will coincide with this event. PrARADAY had many other interests _ in the realm of physics besires electricity. As a research chemist he did some remarkable work, discovering new carbon-chlorine combinations and stueceeding in liquefying various gases. Apart from this he investigated the properties of glass, and this led. him to the study of polarised light and the behaviour of a polarised ray in a magnetic field. Indeed, his researches were so extensive that they covered not only chemical, physical, and electrical matters, but included a study of ice and the movements of glaciers, Faraday died at Hampton Court in 1867 in a house placed at his disposal by. Queen Victoria, His acceptance of this residence may be attributed to a nice degree of delicatesse, for which credit has been ascribed to the Prince Consort. It is impossible in this short article to convey more than an outline of the importance of the pioneer work-in« ventive and constructive-that Faraday accomplished, but it should be remembered by everyone who pushes 9 button, turus on the light, or switches on a wireless set, that they owe a debt to the genius of the one-time bookbinder -Michael Faraday.