Faraday's notes on Tatum's lectures. Page of lecture notes written by British chemist and physicist Michael Faraday (1791-1867). Faraday, a bookbinder's apprentice at the time, lacked a formal education and studied by reading books and attending lectures. He attended around 13 lectures by silversmith John Tatum (1772-1858) between February 1810 and September 1811. The notes Faraday made from these lectures formed four volumes and 300 pages and helped him start his career in science. This page (continued in image C024/3946) describes an experiment where an electrical spark is used to ignite a glass cup of alcoholic spirits.