The Chemical History of a Candle

One of the greatest experimental scientists of all time, Michael Faraday (1791-1867) developed the first electric motor, electric generator, and dynamo–essentially creating the science of electrochemistry. This book, the result of six lectures he delivered at London’s Royal Institution, concerns another form of energy–candlelight. Faraday titled the lectures “The Chemical History of a Candle,” choosing the subject because, as he explained, “There is not a law under which any part of this universe is governed which does not come into play and is not touched upon during the time a candle burns].” That statement is the foundation for a book that explores the components, function, and weight of the atmosphere; the function of a candle wick; capillary attraction; the carbon content in oxygen and living bodies; the production of carbon dioxide from coal gas and sugar; the properties of carbonic acid; respiration and its analogy to the burning of a candle; and much more. Unabridged republication of “A Course of Six Lectures on the Chemical History of a Candle, originally published by Chautauqua Press, New York, n.d. New Introduction. Numerous illustrations.