Chemist, experimental physicist, and natural philosopher, born in Newington Butts, Surrey. Apprenticed to a bookbinder, he devoted his leisure to science. In 1813 he was engaged by Davy as his assistant at the Royal Institution, and in 1827 he succeeded to Davy's chair of chemistry. His research contributed to an extremely broad area of physical science, such as the condensation of gases, the conservation of force, and studies on benzene and steel. His major work is the series of Experimental Resea rches on Electricity (1839-55), in which he reports a wide range of discoveries about the nature of electricity, notably electrolysis, and the relationship between electricity and magnetism.