53 Harley St | July 24, 1855.
My dear Faraday
I have received a letter marked private, from my friend Sir Edmund Head1, now Governor General of Canada in which he says “could you get me from Faraday an answer to the following question - How far are first rate mathematical acquirements essential for conducting with advantage magnetic observations such as have been carried on at the Observatory at Toronto”.
He says, he asks this question with a sincere desire to know what is necessary in order that the best may be done for the interests of science, & he should be glad if the answer could be got in the shape of a short note from you & one which he could use.
He has (intentionally I have no doubt) left me in the dark as to the particular bearing of the question, but I know him to be a man who will do what he can for the advancement of science.
Every most truly yours | Cha Lyell
Please cite as “Faraday3010,” in Ɛpsilon: The Michael Faraday Collection accessed on