The Chemical History of A Candle
The Chemical History of a Candle is a series of 6 lectures on chemistry presented to a juvenile audience in 1848. Taught by Michael Faraday - a chemist and physicist, and regarded as the best experimentalist in the history of science - it is probably the most famous of the Christmas Lectures of the Royal Society.
Taking the everyday burning of a candle as a starting point, Faraday spans the arc from combustion and its products, via the components of water and air (oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon), back to the type of combustion that happens in the human body when we breathe.
The final lecture "On Platinum" describes a then new method to produce large quantities of Platinum. It was delivered before the Royal Institution on February 22, 1861. (Summary by Availle.)
Genre(s): *Non-fiction, Nature, Science
Language: English
Keyword(s): science (221), non-fiction (190), physics (47), chemistry (29), Royal Society (3), christmas lectures (2)
| Section | Chapter | Reader | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Play 00 | Preface | Availle |
00:03:30 |
| Play 01 | Lecture I | Availle |
00:36:35 |
| Play 02 | Lecture II | Availle |
00:32:15 |
| Play 03 | Lecture III | Availle |
00:38:42 |
| Play 04 | Lecture IV | Availle |
00:34:37 |
| Play 05 | Lecture V | Availle |
00:39:32 |
| Play 06 | Lecture VI | Availle |
00:41:32 |
| Play 07 | Lecture on Platinum | Availle |
00:45:26 |