This collection of papers, published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, detailed Faraday's extensive experiments on electromagnetism and laid the foundation for our understanding of electromagnetic phenomena. It is considered his most important scientific work.

In this speculative paper, Faraday proposed that light might be a vibration of lines of force, anticipating the later electromagnetic theory of light developed by James Clerk Maxwell.

This work compiled Faraday's chemical and physical investigations, covering a range of topics beyond electromagnetism.