Faraday wanted everybody to have a knowledge of science so, in addition to classes he ran for students of science, he established regular public lectures at the Royal Institution where he and other invited experts gave a discourse every Friday evening on one of a wide range of topics.

He was especially keen to see children educated in science so, every year at Christmas, he would give a special juvenile lecture.  These, and the Friday Discourses, became so popular that they continue to the present day.

In his most popular lecture ‘The Chemical History of a Candle’, which is still published today in several languages, Faraday used the making and use of a candle to explore and explain many everyday scientific principles.

He trained himself to be a superb lecturer, speaking with clarity, enthusiasm and precision which captivated and enthused his audiences.  He illustrated his words with experiments and demonstrations, often quite dramatically, such as when he went inside a large metal cage which was then charged to more than 100,000 volts.  He knew he would be unharmed.

At one Friday Discourse the invited lecturer Sir Charles Wheatstone took fright beforehand and bolted from the building.  Faraday had to step in unprepared and lecture on the chosen topic.  To fill out the time he decided to use the opportunity to share his thoughts on ray vibrations, ideas he had been developing for years but had never publicised.
At the time these were radical ideas and they received little support until James Maxwell in 1855 gave them a mathematical foundation so forming the basis for modern force field theory and leading to the discovery of X-Rays and radio waves.

The Lecturer