This is one of my favourite exhibits in the
exhibition Charles Dickens: Man of Science
and it's Michael Faraday's candlestick. It's
the very candlestick that he used to lecture
young and family audiences as part of his
Christmas lectures at the Royal Institution.
It's in our exhibition because Charles Dickens
heard about the lectures, was inspired by
them and used his connections to write to
Michael Faraday and say 'please can I borrow
your notes?' Faraday obliged. Dickens took
them and he sent them to one of his writers
who turned them into short stories for the
journal 'Household Words' which Dickens edited.
And there were four short stories in total
on the chemistry of a tea kettle, a pint of
beer, a chest and of course a candle. Dickens
published those stories as part of a series
in 'Household Words' in 1850. You can see
this exhibit and other exhibits like it at
the Charles Dickens: Man of Science exhibition
here at the Charles Dickens Museum which is
running from May the 24th to November the
11th 2018.
