Introductory Note: Michael Faraday
Introductory note on Michael Faraday (Volume 30, Harvard Classics)

Introductory note on Michael Faraday (Volume 30, Harvard Classics)
Two sticks, a table, and a pail were the commonplace implements used by Michael Faraday to demonstrate great scientific truths. (Volume 30, Harvard Classics) Faraday sends "Experimental Researches" to Royal Society, Nov. 6, 1845.
A divorce always means trouble for some one. So with Sir Thomas More when he refused to agree with King Henry over the king's separation. More was made to pay one of the highest prices ever paid for a difference of opinion. (Volume 36, Harvard Classics)
Introductory note on Sir Thomas More (Volume 36, Harvard Classics)
Introductory note on Pierre Corneille (Volume 26, Harvard Classics)
Polyeucte, an Armenian noble, wanted to become a Christian. If he were baptized, he would have to give up his high position, his wealth and his pagan wife. Was the heavenly crown worth this sacrifice? (Volume 26, Harvard Classics)
Pliny sought the advice of the Emperor Trajan for dealing with the Christians who were alarmingly on the increase. He casually relates how he had tortured two Christians. (Volume 9, Harvard Classics)
Introductory note on Pliny the Younger (Volume 9, Harvard Classics)
Introductory note on Dante Alighieri (Volume 20, Harvard Classics)
Dante recorded the awful scenes of a journey through the pits of the underworld, and wrote in such a vivid, realistic way that men tremble at the terrors depicted. (Volume 20, Harvard Classics)
Introductory note on The Tempest by William Shakespeare (Volume 46, Harvard Classics)
Monsters of the earth, weird creatures of the air, magic romance, and shipwreck are mingled by a master hand in his thrilling drama. The fanciful, enchanting "Tempest" is the last work of the great bard of Stratford. (Volume 46, Harvard Classics) “The Tempest” performed at Queen Elizabeth's court, Nov. 1, 1611.
Introductory note on Robert Burns (Volume 6, Harvard Classics)
Beware of magic! Once a year uneasy spirits are released and walk the earth from midnight until dawn. Spooks and goblins invade the most secure homes and the canniest must watch out for danger lurking in every dark corner. (Volume 6, Harvard Classics) All Hallows' Eve.
Introductory note on Charles Lyell (Volume 38, Harvard Classics)
Lyell has been called the founder of modern geology. Darwin, the master scientist, called him "Geology's Greatest Benefactor." Lyell's research revolutionized ideas on that subject. (Volume 38, Harvard Classics)
Introductory note on John Keats (The Ridpath Library of Universal Literature)
Though the son of a stable man, John Keats wrote the most exquisite and sublime poetry in our language. He was the friend of Shelley, Lord Byron, and the other literary leaders of the time --- his genius recognized by all. (Volume 41, Harvard Classics)
Locke taught children by means of games. He tells of a game whereby children were taught to spell with dice on which the letters of the alphabet were pasted. This was more than 200 years before modern kindergarten methods. Today's children would respond to such wise direction as Locke recommends. (Volume 37, Harvard Classics) John Locke died Oct. 28, 1704.
Introductory note on John Locke (Volume 37, Harvard Classics)
Siddhartha Gautama, who became the god Buddha, renounced the world and spent seven years in meditation. Then one day, while sitting under a fig tree, he became inspired with exalted and sublime conceptions of life and death. The rest of his life was spent in teaching and converting mankind. (Volume 45, Harvard Classics)
Introductory note on Buddha (Volume 45, Harvard Classics)
Introductory note on Benjamin Franklin (Volume 1, Harvard Classics)
Poor at twenty, rich at forty, internationally famous at fifty. Benjamin Franklin once walked the streets of Philadelphia alone, poor, and with no education. Yet he rose to be a leader because he learned the secret of careful reading. (Volume 1, Harvard Classics) Franklin made U. S. plenipotentiary in France, Oct. 26, 1778.
After the publication of Machiavelli's "The Prince," the Sultans became more addicted to strangling their brothers, tyrants became more merciless, and murderous plots increased. The influence of that book, as Macaulay points out, spread over Europe and Asia. (Volume 27, Harvard Classics) Thomas Babington Lord Macaulay born Oct. 25, 1800.
Introductory note on Thomas Babington Macaulay (Volume 27, Harvard Classics)
Introductory note on Aeschylus (Volume 8, Harvard Classics)
Cassandra knew through a prophetic vision that a sword would pierce her heart. Agamemnon, her captor, took her to his home where an avenging wife, Clytemnestra, awaited. The tragedies of the doom that requited the sins of the House of Atreus are among the most powerful ever written. (Volume 8, Harvard Classics)
When only a boy, Cæsar was captured by pirates. While awaiting ransom he entered into every sport and game with them. Once freed, he quickly returned with forces that captured the outlaws. Then he took deliberate revenge. (Volume 12, Harvard Classics)
Introductory note on Plutarch (Volume 12, Harvard Classics)