Michael Faraday elected a member of the Royal Society

Background. The Royal Society is the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences, founded in 1660. Its core members are fellows, selected for substantial contributions to natural knowledge. Fellows are elected for life and gain the right to use the postnominal title FRS. The society's membership became almost entirely scientific following reforms that restricted election criteria to scientific achievements.

Election Process. The Royal Society undertook reform of its internal statutes during this period, with changes occurring in 1823 and 1831. Separately, the scientific Fellows were spurred into action and James South established a Charters Committee with a view to obtaining a supplementary Charter from the Crown, aimed primarily at restricting membership. The Committee recommended that the election of Fellows take place on one day every year, that Fellows be selected on consideration of their scientific achievements, and that the number elected a year be limited to 15.

Faraday's Context. Michael Faraday was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to electrochemistry and electromagnetism. Although he received little formal education, he was influential. His election as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1824 occurred before his later appointment as Director of the Laboratory of the Royal Institution in 1825.