Electrostatic generator. View of a glass cylindrical electrostatic generator, made by British scientist Michael Faraday (1791-1867). A silk pad that was draped over this cylinder is missing. The cylinder would be rotated beneath the pad, the friction creating a large static electric charge to build on the surface of the glass. This was one of the first pieces of apparatus made by Faraday, during the time in which he was an apprentice bookbinder. He later became one of the greatest experimental scientists is history. This artefact is preserved at the Royal Institution, London.