Written by Noah Carl.
Michael was born into a poor family in England in 1791. One of four children, he didn’t get enough to eat because his father, a blacksmith, was often ill and couldn’t always work. He received only a rudimentary education at Sunday school, but proceeded to educate himself after becoming a bookbinder’s apprentice at 14.
Faraday, to use his last name, went on to revolutionise the field of electromagnetism and became one of the most famous scientists of the 19th century. Einstein reportedly kept a portrait of him in his office.
Interestingly, the man always remained true to his humble, Christian origins. He turned down a knighthood on religious grounds, preferring to remain “plain Michael Faraday to the last”. During the Crimean War, he refused to help build chemical weapons because he considered them unethical. And he declined to be buried at Westminster Abbey alongside Sir Isaac Newton and other luminaries. “I have always loved science more than money,” he once told a publisher.
Faraday is one of several historical figures who achieved extraordinary success despite a very modest upbringing. Other examples include Benjamin Franklin (who only attended school for two years), Andrew Carnegie (who grew up in a one-room house) and Abraham Lincoln (who also grew up in a one-room house). Indeed, all these men illustrate the principle that being born into great wealth isn’t necessary to get ahead in life.
Hold your horses. While being born into great wealth may not be strictly necessary, some will cry, it surely matters a great deal. Individuals born into great wealth usually do get ahead; those born into modest circumstances usually don’t. And a handful of exceptions like Michael Faraday can scarcely overturn this rule. Family wealth actually is what explains success, isn’t it?