FARADAY AND HIS INFLUENCE ON OUR EVERYDAY LIFE, 207
discovery. At the same time, Francis Bacon's publications
pointed the way to methodical principles in scientific enquiry.
This awakening of interest in the organic and inorganic worlds
led to the formation of the Royal Society. But the thinking man,
who questions, tests and discards traditional explanations of
phenomena is often misunderstood and regarded askance by his
fellows. This innate conservatism made the exponents of the
old order of book-learning antagonistic to the newer knowledge
which lay beyond their comprehension. Abuse and ridicule
were heaped upon the scientists by the men of letters. Samuel
Butler's Hudibras (1662) and some of Swift's writings (Voyage to
Laputa, and the Grand Academy of Lagado) are typical of this
sneering spirit. In later days, Burns poked fun at antiquaries
(Captain Francis Grose), whilst Wordsworth poured contempt on
geologists (The Excursion, Book iii.).
As the result of popular education and a more tolerant spirit
the world now recognises the discovery of natural laws by the
devotees of pure science. It appreciates their application to
everyday life in the amenities with which modern civilisation is
burdened. But in this enjoyment of the fruits of Applied Science,
does it realise its enormous debt to the patient labours of the
"Pure Scientists" ?
During the Faraday Celebrations this year, the daily and
technical press and the Albert Hall Exhibition have informed us
how greatly the material welfare of man has been advanced by
the work of the philosophical Faraday, in particular from his
discovery of Electro-magnetic Induction. In our homes we
cannot escape from it. It serves mankind in such unexpected
places as fishing boats—for boiling cod-liver oil on board, and
the lighting of fish-ponds on deck—while in woods far from cities,
the screech of the saw mill proclaims the advent of cheap electric
motors and power. Surely Faraday did not foresee de-forestation
when he discoursed on "The Practical Prevention of Dry-Rot in
Timber" at the Royal Institution on February 22nd, 1833.
Thus we are led to ponder a little on Faraday's personal charac-
ter. We must not allow his principle of Electromagnetic Induc-
tion to overshadow him and his other discoveries.
Faraday's Parentage and Early Years.
The ancestry of Michael Faraday can be traced definitely
only as far as his grandfather Robert (born 1728). It is, there-