In 1831 Michael Faraday set out the principle of electromagnetic induction, having discovered that an electric current flows in a coil of wire when it is moved through a magnetic field. This discovery was later applied in the development of electric motors, dynamos for electricity generation and the industrial use of electricity. Faraday, who began his career as assistant to the chemist Sir Humphry Davy, used the magnet and coil of wire shown here in his experiments.

Inv. 1949-293