Faraday and the structure of matter

Summary Michael Faraday, the experimentalist, is a well-known and beloved figure in the history of science; Michael Faraday, the theorist, is almost a stranger. The purpose of this paper is to describe Faraday's theoretical ideas on the structure of matter and to illustrate his use of these ideas as guides in his researches on electrolysis, static induction and ordinary electrical conduction.