Michael Faraday (1791-1867), English chemist and physicist. He devised the first electric motor along with equipment such as transformers and dynamos. Faraday had no formal education, but gave his first Royal Institution lecture when a scheduled speaker failed to appear. It was a great success and his lectures would popularize science amongst the public. He discovered the organic molecule benzene and was later made professor of chemistry at the Institution in 1833. His other notable works centred on magnetism and the formation of the laws of electrolysis.