ABSTRACT
Faraday did not give the first series of Christmas lectures himself, but he did give the second, simply entitled ‘Chemistry’, and thereafter no fewer that sixteen more, up till 1860. Although the Christmas lectures on the topic were given first in 1848, the resulting book called The Chemical History of a Candle was first published in 1861. Today the largest sales are in Japan, where it is given as a set book to school children to learn how observational science works. General conclusions are drawn from the existence of imperfection in man-made objects, but the young listeners were left with a powerful message, not just about science but about utility and beauty. After discovering in detail the process of combustion, and how the carbon in the candle is turned into carbon dioxide by combining with oxygen in the atmosphere, Faraday turns to the wider question of how human beings derive their energy from food, also through its reaction with oxygen.
