Farrington Daniels (March 8, 1889 – June 23, 1972) was an American physical chemist who is considered one of the pioneers of the modern direct use of solar energy.

As a boy, he was fascinated with Thomas Edison, Samuel F. B. Morse, Alexander Graham Bell, and John Charles Fields.

The following year he spent half his time in teaching and received an MS for graduate work in physical chemistry.

So instead he accepted a position as instructor at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where, besides teaching, he found he had considerable time for research in calorimetry, for which he received a grant from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

He joined the University of Wisconsin in 1920 as an assistant professor in 1920, and remained until his retirement in 1959 as chairman of the chemistry department.

[2][3] During World War II, Daniels joined the staff of the Metallurgical Laboratory, a part of the Manhattan Project effort by the United States to develop the first nuclear weapons.

[citation needed] Daniels became a leading American expert on the principles involved with the practical utilization of solar energy.

He supported solar energy because, as he said in 1955, "We realize, as never before, that our fossil fuels – coal, oil, and gas – will not last forever.