Natural history of a candle
The Natural History of a Candle (The Chemical History of a Candle) is the title of a six-part Christmas lecture by Michael Faraday about the chemical and physical principles of appearance of flame in candles , which he held of the year 1860/1861 and was published in book form. 1861 The book, translated into numerous languages, is considered one of the most successful popular science books.
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The first edition was published in April 1861 by William Crookes under the full title A Course of Six Lectures on the Chemical History of a Candle: To Which is Added a Lecture on Platinum by Griffin, Bohn & Co. In addition to the six-part series of lectures on the natural history of the candle, it also contained Faraday's Friday evening lecture of February 22, 1861 on platinum . The preface, although signed with Crooke's name, was written by Charles Greville Williams (1829–1910).
Faraday used the candle as a starting point for a comprehensive presentation of scientific findings:
“There is not a law under which any part of this universe is governed which does not come into play, and is touched upon in these phenomena. There is no better, there is no more open door by which you can enter into the study of natural philosophy. "
“Among the laws according to which our universe is governed in all its parts, there is none that does not come into consideration in the natural history of the candle. There is no better and more convenient gateway for the entrance to the study of physics. "
History of origin
Already at the turn of the year 1848/1849 Faraday gave a six-part Christmas lecture entitled On the Chemical History of a Candle . Charles Dickens wrote to Faraday asking for lecture notes as Dickens planned to write a summary of these and other lectures for his newly founded weekly Household Words . Dickens received the requested notes and published the announced summary of the lectures in the August 3, 1850 edition of Household Words under the title The Chemistry of A Candle .
In late 1859, William Crookes founded his sixteen-page weekly, The Chemical News and Journal of Physical Science , for which he was looking for contributions. He asked for at Faraday, if one of his employees the Christmas lecture of 1859/1860 on the various forces of matter and their relationships to one another (English title. The Various Forces of Matter, and Their Relations To Each Other ) should take notes for publication. Faraday agreed, and the Christmas lecture appeared in six episodes in Volume One of Chemical News from January 7th . It was then published in summary form in book form. Encouraged by the success, Crookes repeated his approach when, at the turn of the year 1860/1861, with the help of his old notes, Faraday again held a Christmas lecture entitled On the Chemical History of a Candle . Faraday received a fee of 14 guineas for the advance publication . He did not participate in the profit of the book, which was sold for 3 shillings and 6 pence .
content
| Original English edition from 1861 | German edition from 1919 |
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Lecture I. The Candle: The Flame - Its Sources - Structure - Mobility - Brightness |
First lecture. The candle - Manufacture - Flame of the candle - Melting of the fuel - Capillarity - Evaporation of the fuel - Shape of the flame - The rising air stream - Other flames |
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Lecture II. Brightness of the Flame - Air necessary for Combustion - Production of Water |
Second lecture. The flammable vapors in the flame - distribution of heat - need for air - incomplete combustion - combustion with and without flame - cause of the glow - combustion products |
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Lecture III. Products: Water from the Combustion - Nature of Water - A Compound - Hydrogen |
Third lecture. Formation of water when the candle burns - Properties of water - Solid, liquid and gaseous state - Hydrogen ; Presentation and properties - Combustion of hydrogen to water - The voltaic column |
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Lecture IV. Hydrogen in the Candle - Burns into Water - The other Part of Water - Oxygen |
Fourth lecture. Chemical effects of electric current - Electrolysis of water - Formation of water from oxygen and hydrogen - Composition of water - Oxygen; Appearance and properties |
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Lecture V. Oxygen present in the air - Nature of the Atmosphere - Its Properties - Other Products from the Candle - Carbonic Acid - Its Properties |
Fifth lecture. Composition of the atmospheric air - Detection of oxygen - Properties of nitrogen - Weighing of gases - Air pressure and elasticity of air - Carbonic acid ; Origin and occurrence, proof of properties |
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Lecture VI. Carbon or Charcoal - Coal-Gas - Respiration and its Analogy to the Burning of a Candle - Conclusion |
Sixth lecture. The carbonic acid; Composition, formation and decomposition - burning of coal - the breathing process - cycle of carbonic acid in nature - ignition temperature and combustion. |
pads
Pre-release
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A Course of Six Lectures (adapted to a Juvenile Auditory), on the Chemical History of a Candle; by M. Faraday, DCL, FRS, Fullerian Professor of Chemistry, RI, Foreign Associate of the Academy of Sciences, Paris, & c. In: The Chemical News and Journal of Physical Science . Volume 3, Griffin, Bohn & Co., London 1861:
- 1st lecture (December 27, 1860) In: Number 57 of January 5, 1861, pp. 6–10, online in the Google book search
- 2nd lecture (December 29, 1860) In: Number 58 of January 12, 1861, pp. 24–27, online in the Google book search
- 3rd lecture (January 1, 1861) In: Number 59 of January 19, 1861, pp. 42–46, online in the Google book search
- 4th lecture (January 3, 1861) In: Number 60 of January 26, 1861, pp. 57–60, online in the Google book search
- 5th lecture (January 5, 1861) In: Number 61 of February 2, 1861, pp. 72–76, online in the Google book search
- 6th lecture (January 8, 1861) In: Number 62 of February 9, 1861, pp. 84–88, online in the Google book search
Original edition
- A Course of Six Lectures on the Chemical History of a Candle: To Which is Added a Lecture on Platinum . Harper & Brothers, New York 1861, Text Archive - Internet Archive
Translations (selection)
- Natural history of a candle . Six lectures for young people, translated from English by Lüdicke, Robert Oppenheim, Berlin 1871, online in the Google book search.
- Natural history of a candle . Translated, introduced and edited with notes by Günther Bugge. Philipp jun., Leipzig 1919 (Reclams Universal Library Volume 6019-6020), online .
- Histoire d'une chandelle . J. Hetzel, Paris 1865.
reception
The pedagogue Martin Wagenschein wrote in his 1962 essay The Pedagogical Dimension of Physics : “Every teacher should know Faraday's candle!” In the 1980s, based on his advice, the didactic piece Faraday's candle was developed. In 2016, Bill Hammack published a video series for the lectures with accompanying material.
proof
literature
- William Hodson Brock: William Crookes (1832-1919) and the Commercialization of Science . Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 2008, ISBN 9780754663225 , p. 56
- Frank AJL James (Ed.): Christmas At The Royal Institution: An Anthology of Lectures by M. Faraday, J. Tyndall, RS Ball, SP Thompson, ER Lankester, WH Bragg, WL Bragg, RL Gregory, and I. Stewa . World Scientific, 2008, ISBN 9789812771087 , pp. XXI-XXIII.
- Frank AJL James: The Letters of William Crookes to Charles Hanson Greville Williams 1861-2: The Detection and Isolation of Thallium. In: Ambix . Volume 28, 1981, pp. 131-157 ( doi: 10.1179 / amb.1981.28.3.131 ).
Individual evidence
- ^ Notices of the proceedings at the meetings of the members of the Royal Institution, with abstracts of the discourses . Volume 3, 1862, pp. 321–322, limited preview in Google Book Search
- ^ The Chemical History of a Candle - Lecture I.
- ^ Charles John Huffam Dickens to Michael Faraday, May 28, 1850. Letter 2291. In: Frank AJL James (Ed.): The Correspondence of Michael Faraday . Volume 4, pp. 154-155.
- ^ Charles John Huffam Dickens to Michael Faraday, May 31, 1850. Letter 2292. In: Frank AJL James (Ed.): The Correspondence of Michael Faraday . Volume 4, p. 155.
- ^ Charles Dickens (Ed.): The Chemistry of A Candle . In: Household Words . Volume 1, number 19, August 3, 1850, pp. 439-444, Textarchiv - Internet Archive
- ↑ Martin Wagenschein: The educational dimension of physics. Westermann, Braunschweig 1962, p. 203
- ↑ Susanne Wildhirt (2007): Designing a teaching piece - Linné's meadow flowers - Aesop's fables - Faradays candle , p. 220
- ^ Michael Faraday's The Chemical History of a Candle .
Web links
- English full text at www.gutenberg.org
- First lecture at Die Zeit
- W. Helmert, Dr. A. Salinger: The candle - a lesson in chemistry for the 8th grade . February 2, 2005. Retrieved August 1, 2010.