ABSTRACT
Starting from the many encounters with European scientists that he made during his tour of the continent with Humphry Davy in 1813-1815, Faraday maintained consistent contact with a wide circle of acquaintances, both directly in the fields of science centred on his own fields of endeavour and with others who shared his love of learning. Reluctance to take part in social converse stemmed not only from unwillingness to be diverted from more serious or pressing matters, but from a fragile mental state that showed itself progressively in loss of memory. Faraday made up in his extensive correspondence with scientific colleagues on the continent for his unwillingness to travel and meet them in person. John Tyndall's observations on the behaviour of water and ice formed the substance of the Christmas Lectures on ‘Glaciers’ that he gave at the Royal Institution in 1871. A further expression of friendship, when Faraday was 69, is eloquent of his personal feelings for Schoenbein.
