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Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature.

Michael Faraday, laboratory diary

Science

The story behind the card

Michael Faraday, the English scientist who discovered electromagnetic induction, the principle behind electric generators, wrote this in his laboratory diary on 19 March 1849, at the start of a search for a link between gravity and electricity. The sentence goes on: 'and in such things as these experiment is the best test of such consistency.' That is his whole method in one breath: believe the strange thing is possible, then go and check. He had left school at thirteen to work for a bookbinder, and educated himself by reading the books he was binding. The experiments he began that day never found the link he was looking for.

Türkçe oku
Doğa yasalarına uyduğu sürece hiçbir şey gerçek olamayacak kadar harika değildir.
Michael Faraday, laboratuvar defteri

Elektrik jeneratörlerinin dayandığı elektromanyetik indüksiyonu keşfeden İngiliz bilim insanı Michael Faraday, bu cümleyi 19 Mart 1849'da laboratuvar defterine yazdı; o gün yer çekimiyle elektrik arasında bir bağ aramaya başlıyordu. Cümle şöyle sürer: “Böyle konularda bu uyumun en iyi sınavı deneydir.” Faraday'ın bütün yöntemi bu iki cümlede: Tuhaf olanın mümkün olabileceğine inan, sonra gidip dene. On üç yaşında okulu bırakıp bir ciltçinin yanında çalışmaya başlamış, ciltlediği kitapları okuyarak kendini yetiştirmişti. O gün başlattığı deneyler, aradığı bağı hiçbir zaman bulamadı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Michael Faraday
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