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- The Impact of Failure on Michael Faraday - A Recap of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey Episode 10 Part 7
The Impact of Failure on Michael Faraday - A Recap of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey Episode 10 Part 7
Explore how Michael Faraday's invention overshadowed Davy's discoveries, leading to a new challenge in improving British optical glass. Follow the journey as Faraday tackles the unfamiliar territory of glassmaking and showcases his quick learning ability to overcome obstacles.
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Video Transcript
News of Faraday's invention spread quickly,
and suddenly, Davy's assistant was the toast of London.
Davy didn't take it well.
He had, after all, discovered all those elements.
Now people were saying that his greatest discovery was Michael Faraday.
Davy made sure that Faraday wouldn't be making any more headlines anytime soon.
You sent for me, sir?
I have a new challenge for you.
I want you to take over our efforts to improve the quality of British optical glass.
Those Dan Bavarians are running circles around us.
Glass? With all due respect, sir, I know nothing at all of glass making.
Then you will learn, Faraday.
We all know what a quick study you are.
just analyze the chemical composition of their glass and work.
backwards to see how they made it.
It shouldn't take you long.
But Faraday struggled for four years without any success.
This is even worse than the last batch.
No matter how hard he tried, Faraday
could not figure out what Josef Fraunhofer
had discovered years before.
What Faraday failed to grasp was that casting
perfect optical glass for telescopes was a craft as well as a science, and the masters
in Bavaria kept their secrets under lock and key.
Faraday never did learn their secret.
He kept a single glass brick as a souvenir of this failure.
