Mario: You look pretty young. What are you doing here?

King: I’m waiting for the “Christmas Juvenile Lecture” on science that Mr. Faraday gives every year. His very first talk was on the chemical history of a candle. I got here early to get a good seat!

Mario: Gee! You really like science that much?

King: I do when Mr. Faraday talks about it. Everybody loves his lectures! He also gives Friday evening talks for adults. Charles Dickens publishes them in his magazines. Even royalty shows up sometimes!

Mario: Wow! This Mr. Faraday sounds like a popular guy!

King: You’ve never heard him speak, sir? Please, take this extra lecture ticket. He’s very well-spoken, even though he never went beyond the first few years of school! His family was too poor to send him.

Mario: Too poor to go to school?

King: When Michael Faraday was born in 1791, his father was a poor blacksmith. Michael had to leave school to make money. He worked as a clerk for a bookbinder, who later made him an apprentice.

Mario: What got him interested in science?

King: He read a lot of the books he made. He was binding the “Encyclopedia Britannica”, and saw a section on electricity that really sparked his interest! So he began teaching himself about it.

Mario: That’s amazing! So he taught himself everything?

King: Oh, yes, he is mainly self-educated! But, speaking of books, I seem to have misplaced mine, “Conversations on Chemistry,” about the work of another famous scientist, Humphrey Davy.

Mario: Here, book.

King: Thanks, Mario, sir! Mr. Faraday says this book changed his life. Humphrey Davy was his hero, just as Mr. Faraday is mine! Sir Davy hired him as his assistant. Perhaps one day my hero will hire me!

Mario: Is  Mr. Faraday considered a success?

King: Oh, yes! He has published many reports about his work in science and has many awards! But he doesn’t know math, so he writes up his discoveries in plain language instead of equations.

Mario: So Michael Faraday inspired you to study science?

King: I was going to be the King of England, but after learning about Mr. Faraday I’ve changed my mind. Being a scientist is so much fun!

Mario: Can you tell me anything more?

King: No. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to miss the lecture.