Michael Faraday

Michael Faraday, a bookbinder's apprentice with little formal education, became one of the greatest experimental scientists in history. His discoveries in electromagnetism were foundational. He established that a changing magnetic field produces an electric current (electromagnetic induction), the principle behind electric generators and transformers. He also discovered the laws of electrolysis, coined terms like anode, cathode, and ion, and conceptualized electric and magnetic fields—a revolutionary idea that Maxwell would later formalize mathematically.

His brilliant public lectures at the Royal Institution popularized science. Although not a mathematician, his intuitive grasp of physical phenomena and his meticulous experiments provided the raw material for Maxwell's unifying theory, making modern electrical technology possible.