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What 'Cosmos' Left Out About Michael Faraday, Victorian England's Top Scientist

Because there are simply way too many awesome things to say about this guy.
Image: Helen Jane Moore/Wikipedia

Every week, Becky Ferreira, your hostess with the cosmostest, hones in on the most important science and history topics the hit show Cosmos glosses over. Previously: Cosmos' Was Too Soft on Our Current Mass Extinction Event.

Cosmos writer and producer Ann Druyan is an apex history nerd, so it has probably been excruciating for her to whittle down her favorite stories into only 13 episodes. Much like the books she wrote with Carl Sagan, the show tends to bounce around in time, in an attempt to accommodate as many geniuses as possible.

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But as evidenced by “The Clean Room,” which pulled a tight focus on Clair Patterson, Druyan knows that some scientists deserve their own episodes. That was also the case with last night's episode, “The Electric Boy,” which let Michael Faraday shine like the intellectual beacon he was. Though Druyan did a wonderful job of painting the broad strokes of his scientific discoveries and personal life, there was a lot that the episode left out, because Faraday was way too cool to be summed up in 42 minutes.

The biggest omission was his lifelong commitment to public service. Having been raised in poverty, Faraday was uniquely sensitive to labor issues, education quality, and the growing menace of pollution. Many of his peers were concerned about these issues as well, but Faraday understood firsthand how these problems disproportionately affect the poor. When he wasn't decoding electromagnetism in his laboratory, he was out in the field, trying to mitigate the abuse of both human and environmental resources.

For example, he famously spoke out against the sad degradation of the River Thames. In his lifetime, Britain had become the first nation with equal urban and rural populations, and the pressures of urbanization had transformed the river into a disease-ridden cesspool of poop and garbage. In 1855, Faraday published a letter in The Times summarizing experiments he had conducted on the opacity of the Thames, and imploring that better sewage systems be implemented.

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“I have thought it a duty to record these facts, that they may be brought to the attention of those who exercise power or have responsibility in relation to the condition of our river," he wrote. “There's nothing figurative in the words I have employed, or any approach to exaggeration; they are the simple truth.”

“If there be sufficient authority to remove a putrescent pond from the neighbourhood of a few simple dwellings, surely the river which flows for so many miles through London ought not to be allowed to become a fermenting sewer. […] If we neglect this subject, we cannot expect to do so with impunity; nor ought we to be surprised if, ere many years are over, a hot season give us sad proof of the folly of our carelessness.”

A satirical cartoon based on Faraday's letter. Image: Punch magazine

Faraday's argument is still relevant today, but it was especially powerful in his own time because his words came true. In 1858, Londoners suffered through a summer of such aggressive smelliness that the ordeal went down in history as “the Great Stink.” The odor wafted into the Palace of Westminster, located right on the Thames, where members of Parliament were attempting to convene. Despite dousing the curtains of the palace in lime and chloride, their nostrils remained offended. A massive public works bill to revamp the sewage system was introduced, and made it through Parliament in only 18 days, validating Faraday's prophetic concerns.

Faraday also investigated the pollution wreaked by the burgeoning copper industry in Swansea, Wales, though despite his best efforts, he was [not able to solve that puzzle](http://books.google.com/books?id=NrcHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA187&lpg=PA187&dq=faraday+copper+smoke&source=bl&ots=FFPMfR7SVd&sig=sr90p2i6ULuNHUIjWt6QgY7RRAk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RARxU9uDAuzLsQTppICABA&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=faraday copper smoke&f=false). He argued that air pollution was shaping up to be as much of a problem as water contamination, and he worked tirelessly to prevent the frequent tragic explosions in coal mines. He was guided and inspired in many of these endeavors by his mentor Humphry Davy, whose ingenious Davy lamp—designed to be explosive-resistant—no doubt saved the lives of countless workers.

That brings me to one last point that needs to be made about “The Electric Boy.” For some reason, Cosmos decided to pull a total hatchet job on Humphry Davy. The episode made him out to be a jealous villain with no redeeming qualities. While Davy could definitely be petulant and unreasonable, describing Faraday's time as his assistant as “years of bondage” is over the line.

Plus, the episode implied that Davy was pissed off that people were saying his greatest discovery was Faraday. That's really unlikely, considering Davy himself was [the one who originally gave Faraday this high praise](http://books.google.com/books?id=oV9AAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT29&dq=humphry+davy+faraday+greatest+discovery&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WgpxU8y2N-arsQTuxoCwAg&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=humphry davy faraday greatest discovery&f=false) (not to mention that it could easily be argued that Davy was Faraday's greatest discovery). I understand that great stories need a bad guy, but shoehorning Davy into this archetype oversimplifies the roles both men played in history.

Just as 42 minutes is not enough to dig deep into Faraday's immense legacy, neither is 800-odd words. He was born a poor blacksmith's son in a town called Newington Butts (no joke) and he died the most celebrated scientist of his time. But perhaps his most enduring triumph was never letting fame, fortune, or class mobility throw off his moral compass. Even if you don't quite grasp all the scientific concepts he pioneered, his commitment to other human beings and the planet we share is an example for all time.