Faraday and French Physicists^*

Abstract

EVEN if it is one of the essential tasks of the historian of science to find exactly what work was done by certain savants, he should still aim at showing the continuity of effort and research—if not of discoveries—by determining the place of the piece of work in question, its antecedents and consequences, what discussion was centred on it, and the depth and rapidity of its penetration into scientific thought. The necessity for consideration of environment would appear to be less if the savant belongs to a fairly recent period, since the speed with which discoveries become generally known has increased steadily through the centuries with the development of what may be called the internationalisation of science.