Michael Faraday, FRS (22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English chemist and physicist (or natural philosopher, in the terminology of the time) who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.

Although Faraday received little formal education and knew little of higher mathematics such as calculus, he was one of the most influential scientists in history; historians of science refer to him as having been the best experimentalist in the history of science. It was on account of his research regarding the magnetic field around a conductor carrying a DC electric current that Faraday established the basis for the concept of the electromagnetic field in physics, which was subsequently enlarged upon by James Clerk Maxwell. Faraday established that magnetism could affect rays of light and that there was an underlying relationship between the two phenomena. He similarly discovered the principle of electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism, and the laws of electrolysis. His inventions of electromagnetic rotary devices formed the foundation of electric motor technology, and it was largely due to his efforts that electricity became viable for use in technology.