Wikinventia — Atlas of discoveries and inventions · Industrial Age

Electromagnetic induction and self-induction — parallel discovery — Joseph Henry / Michael Faraday

1831 AD · Transmission: Parallel
PhysicsNatural lawNorth American

Joseph Henry independently discovered electromagnetic induction in 1831, the same year as Faraday, and was the first to identify and describe self-induction — the phenomenon by which a circuit generates an electromotive force opposing the change in its own current. The SI unit of inductance bears his name (henry). Faraday published first and developed the theoretical framework with greater depth and system, which gave him canonical priority. In the Wikinventia corpus, Henry is one of the best examples of a parallel discoverer whose work was real, simultaneous, and technically notable, but whose memory was subordinated to whoever published first.

InstitutionAlbany Academy / Princeton University
Historical regionUnited States
Primary sourceHenry, J. — research on electromagnetic induction, 1831. "On the Production of Currents and Sparks of Electricity from Magnetism" (American Journal of Science, 1832)
Secondary sourceBritannica — https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Henry
Original languageEnglish
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