Michael Faraday: Father of Electronics by Charles Ludwig

Michael Faraday: Father of Electronics Reviews

• 
  Nelleke Plouffe

  I read this to my boys, and I think they will always remember Michael Faraday. His life was fascinating and inspiring.
  I remember enjoying some of Ludwig’s books as a child, but reading this as an adult, I was a little disappointed in the quality of writing. It was less choppy than Joyce MacPherson’s (we read The Ocean Of Truth last year), but the two authors share a tendency to add irrelevant extraneous information to try to make the story come alive. And so Michael Faraday imparts scientific knowledge to his wife around bites of toast, for example. I found this distracting and annoying, so much so that I often edited on the fly while I was reading aloud. All the same, it was an inspiring story and I’m glad to have shared it with my boys.
• 
  Colette

  2.5 stars. This book is a little heavy-handed and preachy at times. The book wanted to be both historical fiction and a biography. Some scenes were overdone with little vignettes that were most likely made up (people just don’t leave historical documents that have that stuff in them). Other sections had a lot of explaining and narrating — these were often out of chronological sequence, making the timeline confusing. The author heavily emphasized religious dissenters as scientists. This is fine, but it seemed forced. I appreciated that the author frequently spoke about Faraday’s faith, as this was an important part of his life. Another oddity was that the author frequently referenced American people and events. I guess this book was written for an American audience or something, but it was jarring. I don’t think Benjamin Franklin really played a huge role in Faraday’s life since he died before Faraday was born. Yes, he worked with electricity, but, again it seemed forced. Conversations also sounded really odd. So much scientific explaining going on in general conversation. It didn’t sound very natural, and several times much too Modern American. Also, the speech impediment went away quite quickly.
  
  It probably sounds like I didn’t like this book very much. I actually thought it was okay. I’d like to read a better biography of Faraday to compare facts and get a better idea of what parts were his actual personality and what were Ludwig’s embellishments. I also plan to read his Chemical History of a Candle, and maybe some of his other writings.
• 
  Harry Harman

  Determined to understand Newton, he picked up an English translation of his best known work, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. Barely able to follow the thread of thought, Michael snapped the book shut and picked up Galileo's Dialogues on the Two New Sciences.
  
  With Michael's system, he was exposed to each lecture at least four times! (1) When he heard it. (2) When he wrote it out in abbreviated notes. (3) When he enlarged the notes. And (4) when he wrote the entire lecture in his own words.
  
  Isaac Watts' book, The Improvement of the Mind
  
  Sir Humphry's latest book, Elements of Chemical Philosophy
  
  Michael soon discovered that like himself, Sir Humphry had been deeply influenced by a Quaker. This Quaker, Robert Dunkin, had given up his profession as a saddlemaker in order to build scientific instruments.
• 
  Erin Cartwright

  Not knowing anything about Michael Faraday before reading this book, I found his life to be fascinating. He had a strong faith and persevered through all sorts of difficulties. Though Faraday himself was an incredible man, the book Michael Faraday was poorly written. It had lots of off-subject information and confusing sentences.
• 
  CM

  A fascinating look into the life of a man on the cutting edge of scientific discovery when everything about science was new and difficult to come by. I am sure this would have been even more enjoyable to read by someone who has a better understanding of science. However, the life of Faraday had many twists and turns of great interest.
• 
  Evonne

  Informative. Lots of science, reviews of the science that supported Faraday's work. There are some really fun descriptive phrases sprinkled throughout but not enough to create great imagery. The two female characters are Faraday's mother - a woman of faith and optimism - and his wife who is portrayed as a very happy and affectionate housewife. All in all, dull.
• 
  Jacque

  We read this aloud for school. All of us have it four stars except MK she gave it three. MD and CN thought it was a good book. MK thought it was slow. I liked that I learned about this amazing man that contributed so much but we hear so little about.
• 
  F

  I really enjoyed this book. I knew little of Faraday except for the Faraday Cage/shield. Very well written, interesting and informative.
• 
  Ananya Anand

  THE BOOK, THE MAN, THE WRITING, AND THE BRILLIANCE AND HUMILITY ARE IMPECCABLE HERE...end of discussion.
• 
  Lillian

  Charles Ludwig is my favorite biography author by far. He writes in a playful, fun, and entertaining manner that I love to read, but his historical figures are portrayed in a very truthful way. I found this particular book, which happened to be my introduction to Charles Ludwig, a great example of his talent.
  
  I found Michael Faraday an endearing and inspiring character. His inability to say his "r"s was sweet, and his constantly curious personality as a child was fun to read, knowing where it would lead him.
  
  224 Pages.
• 
  Deanna Sutter

  4 1/2 stars: We really liked this and I recommend it has a great read out. It's a perfect living book outlining a quality character, hard work, family dedication and values, personal leadership education and lots of scientific experiments. If you enjoyed "Carry On Mr. Bowditch" you will appreciate this book.
• 
  Joel

  This was my "review" when I read this book:
  
  I loved this book. Faraday's life is amazing because he overcame many obstacles in becoming a scientist, and the reason he was able to overcome those trials was because he relied on God. (Even to the end of his life he supported his mother.)
• 
  Wendy

  Another curriculum book enjoyed.
• 
  Khajag Barsoumian

  comment
• 
  Joy C.

  a fictionalized biography for young adults about the life of Michael Faraday. Definitely enjoyed rereading for school the dramatization of the 'father of electronics'!
• 
  Jessica

  It was a good book. I enjoyed reading it, but I think if you were interested in science, you would get more out of it...
• 
  Wesley

  Written for young adults I found the story of Michael Faraday a fascinating read.
• 
  Eric Bervig

  Great biography
  
  It is a great book about Michael Faraday it is well written
  And explains a lot of his life. Good book