By his initiative and self-development Michael Faraday rose to be one of the world's greatest scientists. He laid the foundation of our laboratory technique and gave experimental science a permanent place in the world. Young and old today have far greater opportunities to learn than in Faraday's time - books, schools and laboratories are more available. In fact, I often think we have so many facilities that we lose track of the problem. Problems, as you know, are solved in the mind of some intensely interested person. The books and apparatus can do nothing alone. Although, since Faraday's time, thousands of discoveries have been made, I am sure there are as many unsolved problems today as there were 100 years ago. We know so little that only egotism can prevent us from seeing the infinite possibilities before us at this Christmas time of 1943, the same as Faraday saw them in 1821. ● |