Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Article
  • Published:

Faraday and his Contemporaries

Abstract

IN the introduction to his “Dissertation on the Progress of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences from 1775 to 1850”, written during 1852–1854, and published in the eighth edition of the “Encyclopædia Britannica”, J. D. Forbes mentioned as amongst the most eminent workers in physical science during the first quarter of the nineteenth century Young, Malus, Brewster, Fresnel, Arago, Volta, Dalton, Davy, Ørated, Prevost, Leslie, and Fourier, while among those whose labours belonged to the second quarter of the century he included Faraday, Melloni, Gauss, Sir John Herschel, Poisson, Mitscherlich, Liebig, and Dumas. These were to Forbes some of the outstanding physicists and chemists of his own time, and in the course of his dissertation he reviewed the work of each and gave an estimate of the worth of their achievements.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

SMITH, E. Faraday and his Contemporaries. Nature 128, 333–336 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/128333a0

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/128333a0

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing