The Chemical History of a Candle

Faraday’s detailed examination of the candle, its composition, and the physical nature of its flames, is published here complete with the original illustrations and explanatory tables.Although involved in developing several of the cutting-edge advances in thermodynamics during his era, Michael Faraday recognized that the essential principles of physics underpinned earlier innovations. This book outlines the three essential ingredients for fire; a supply of oxygen, a supply of fuel, and heat. The fundamental design of the candle, with its slow-melting wax and wick, is detailed. As well as being a great scientist in his own right, Faraday was respected as a lecturer capable of explaining with clarity principles which his contemporaries struggled to present to the general population. It can be argued that Michael Faraday was among the first of the ’popular scientists’ capable of presenting science in a manner interesting and stimulating: it is in this spirit that he published this book.