Michael Faraday was Self Educated
Faraday (1791–1867) was a self-educated English scientist who specialized in electromagnetic and electrochemistry. His father James was a sickly blacksmith who struggled to support his wife and four children in one of London’s poorer outskirts. As a result, at the age of 13, Faraday was obliged to work to help his family make ends meet.
George Ribeau, a bookseller, offered him a free apprenticeship. Faraday spent the next seven years mastering the art of bookbinding. Faraday stayed at Ribeau's store after hours, reading many of the same books he'd bound together. Faraday's official education was restricted, as it was for other lower-class youths. However, he learned himself chemistry, physics, and a mysterious force known as "electricity" in the space between those bookcases. He never went to college and had no formal education beyond basic reading, writing, and math.
When Faraday's apprenticeship ended, a Riebau customer offered him tickets to four lectures by Humphry Davy, the Royal Institution's professor of chemistry. He went to the meeting and took copious notes. Faraday applied for a job at Davy and submitted his notes in his application. Davy was so impressed that he employed Faraday as his assistant for the next 18 months while Davy toured scientific institutes across Europe.
Humphry Davy aided Faraday's scientific education by introducing him to well-known European scientists such as André-Marie Ampère (after whom the ampere or amp is called) and Alessandro Volta (for whom the volt is named). Faraday took over as professor of chemistry at the Royal Institution after Davy retired in 1827. With the achievements that he has done, surely this is one of the interesting facts about Michael Faraday that surprised many people.
