Showing posts with label Faraday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Faraday. Show all posts

Thursday, October 08, 2026

Lines of Force


"The view which I am so bold to put forth considers,
therefore, radiation as a kind of species of vibration in
the lines of force which are known to connect
particles and also masses of matter together.
It endeavors to dismiss the aether,
but not the vibration.
...
I do not perceive in any part of space, whether
(to use the common phrase) vacant or filled with matter,
anything but forces and the lines in which they are exerted.
...
The aether is assumed as pervading all bodies as
well as space: in the view now set forth, it is the
forces of the atomic centres which pervade
(and make) all bodies, and
also penetrate all space."

- Michael Faraday (1791 - 1867)
Thoughts on Ray Vibrations

Monday, July 25, 2022

Electromagnetic Phenomena


"We shall never know what Faraday would have achieved had he mastered mathematics, but, paradoxically, his ignorance may have been an advantage. It led him to derive his theories entirely from experimental observation rather than to deduce them from mathematical models. Over time, this approach gave him a deep-seated intuition into electromagnetic phenomena. It enabled him to ask questions that had not occurred to others, to devise experiments that no one else had thought of, and to see possibilities that others had missed. He thought boldly but would never commit himself to an opinion until it had withstood the most rigorous experimental testing. As he explained in a letter to Ampère: I am unfortunate in a want to mathematical knowledge and the power of entering with facility any abstract reasoning. I am obliged to feel my way by facts placed closely together."

-  Nancy Forbes (1952 - 2021)
Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electromagnetic Field 

Monday, August 22, 2016

Skye: Grandeur of Quiraing


"When I consider the multitude of associated forces which are diffused through nature — when I think of that calm balancing of their energies which enables those most powerful in themselves, most destructive to the world's creatures and economy, to dwell associated together and be made subservient to the wants of creation, I rise from the contemplation more than ever impressed with the wisdom, the beneficence, and grandeur, beyond our language to express, of the Great Disposer of us all."

- Michael Faraday
(1791 - 1867)

Postscript: this shot was taken not too far from the parking area for The Quiraing on the Isle-of-Skye's Trotternish peninsula’s east coast. It is a spectacularly vibrant symphony of majestic - and labyrinthian - cliffs and grassy valleys. It is also arguably the largest landslide on earth.