Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Frank James gives a talk on “Faraday’s Chemical History of a Candle”. This talk was given on 17 December 2024. Faraday’s Chemical History of a Candle first published in 1861 has remained in print in English ever since and has been translated into more than a dozen lectures, which must make it one of the most popular science books ever. It was based on a set of six lectures that he delivered three times between 1848 and 1861 as the Christmas lectures at the Royal Institution. His enthusiasm for communicating science shines through as he drew out the fascinating science behind the familiar candle flame out of which he effectively created a universe. This seasonal talk will discuss how the lectures came to be delivered, their content, their publication and subsequent legacy.
Frank James gives a talk on “Faraday’s Chemical History of a Candle”. This talk was given on 17 December 2024. Faraday’s Chemical History of a Candle first published in 1861 has remained in print in English ever since and has been translated into more than a dozen lectures, which must make it one of the most popular science books ever. It was based on a set of six lectures that he delivered three times between 1848 and 1861 as the Christmas lectures at the Royal Institution. His enthusiasm for communicating science shines through as he drew out the fascinating science behind the familiar candle flame out of which he effectively created a universe. This seasonal talk will discuss how the lectures came to be delivered, their content, their publication and subsequent legacy.
