12 Books That Changed the World

Episode 4

MICHAEL FARADAY: EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH IN ELECTRICITY (1855) Faraday’s work illuminated the connection between magnetism and electrical current, changing the idea of what electricity was and in doing so made possible its generation and the harnessing of its power. PATENT SPECIFICATION FOR ARKWRIGHT'S SPINNING MACHINE (1769) In 1769, Richard Arkwright patented his spinning machine. Arkwright’s spinning machine spearheaded the events of the textile revolution, sparking off a chain of developments that would form the crux of the Industrial Revolution, broadening the horizons of everyone in Britain - and subsequently the world. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S FIRST FOLIO (1623) The First Folio edition of the collected plays of William Shakespeare was published in 1623, some seven years after his death. Only 18 of Shakespeare's plays appeared in print during his lifetime, and some of these were in corrupt or pirated editions.