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Humphry Davy

British chemist · United Kingdom · Scientists · Lived 1778 to 1829 · aged 50

Humphry Davy is read about 495 times a day, in 84 languages.

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He ran electricity through compounds and pulled out elements no one had seen before - potassium, sodium, calcium, barium, magnesium, boron - then proved chlorine and iodine were elements too. Before that, he inhaled nitrous oxide, laughed his head off, and told surgeons they could use it to kill pain.

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A life in dates

1829Died29 May 18291827“Every new discovery may be considered as a new species of manufacture, awakening moral industry and sagacity, and employing, as it were, new capital of mind.”In their wordsOctober 1827In The Edinburgh Review, or Critical Journal (June-October 1827) as quoted in Lee Johnson and Joseph Meany, Graphene (2018)

1825“Fortunately science, like that nature to which it belongs, is neither limited by time nor by space. It belongs to the world, and is of no country and of no age.”In their words30 November 1825Discourse Delivered at the Royal Society (30 November 1825), published in Six Discourses delivered before the Royal Society, at their

1811“You write with great eloquence and truth on the effects of mountain scenery on the mind.”In their words26 August 1811Letter to Mrs. Apreece [future Mrs. Davy] (26 August 1811) in John Davy (ed.) Fragmentary Remains, Literary and Scientific, of Sir Humphry

1801“A sacred spark created by his breath, The immortal mind of man his image bears; A spirit living 'midst the forms of death, Oppressed, but not subdued, by mortal cares.”In their words"Written After Recovery from a Dangerous Illness" (c. 1801), in John Ayrton Paris, The Life of Sir Humphry Davy (London: Henry Colburn and

1778Born17 December 1778

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Sir Humphry Davy, Bt by Thomas PhillipsSir Humphry Davy, Bt by Thomas PhillipsPortrait of Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, FRS (1778 - 1829), Wellcome L0019084Portrait of Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, FRS (1778 - 1829), Wellcome L0019084T1- d646 - Fig. 328. - Humphry DavyT1- d646 - Fig. 328. - Humphry DavySir Humphry Davy. Stipple engraving by W. Walker, 1830, afte Wellcome V0006497Sir Humphry Davy. Stipple engraving by W. Walker, 1830, afte Wellcome V0006497Portrait of Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, FRS (1778 - 1829), Wellcome M0008660Portrait of Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, FRS (1778 - 1829), Wellcome M0008660Sir Humphry Davy (cropped)Sir Humphry Davy (cropped)Sir Humphry Davy. Oil painting. Wellcome V0017828Sir Humphry Davy. Oil painting. Wellcome V0017828Sir Humphry Davy. Stipple engraving by R. Hicks, 1829, after Wellcome V0001499Sir Humphry Davy. Stipple engraving by R. Hicks, 1829, after Wellcome V0001499

In their own words 6

,
Humphry Davy
,
6 statements, newest first

  1. Every new discovery may be considered as a new species of manufacture, awakening moral industry and sagacity, and employing, as it were, new capital of mind.

    Oct 1827, In The Edinburgh Review, or Critical Journal (June-October 1827) as quoted in Lee Johnson and Joseph Meany, Graphene (2018), Own words

  2. Fortunately science, like that nature to which it belongs, is neither limited by time nor by space. It belongs to the world, and is of no country and of no age.

    Nov 30, 1825, Discourse Delivered at the Royal Society (30 November 1825), published in Six Discourses delivered before the Royal Society, at their, Own words

  3. You write with great eloquence and truth on the effects of mountain scenery on the mind.

    Aug 26, 1811, Letter to Mrs. Apreece [future Mrs. Davy] (26 August 1811) in John Davy (ed.) Fragmentary Remains, Literary and Scientific, of Sir Humphry, Own words

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Awards

Fellow of the Royal Society
Copley Medal
Royal Medal
Rumford Medal
Galvanism Prize
Royal Society Bakerian Medal
Fellow of the Zoological Society of London
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

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About this person

Humphry Davy was born 17 December 1778 in Britain and became the chemist who invented electrochemistry. In 1799 he experimented with nitrous oxide, found it made him laugh, nicknamed it "laughing gas," and wrote about its potential as an anaesthetic for surgery. Then in 1807 he used electricity to isolate potassium and sodium for the first time, and the following year calcium, strontium, barium, magnesium, and boron. He also discovered the elemental nature of chlorine and iodine, studied the forces in these separations, invented the Davy lamp and an early arc lamp, and is credited with discovering clathrate hydrates. Berzelius called his 1806 Bakerian Lecture "one of the best memoirs which has ever enriched the theory of chemistry." He became a baronet, President of the Royal Society, and died 29 May 1829.

Country
United Kingdom
Category
Scientists
Type
Scientist
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1778 to 1829 · aged 50

In common with Humphry

Joseph Louis Gay-LussacBoth received Galvanism PrizeLouis Jacques ThénardBoth received Galvanism PrizePaul ErmanBoth received Galvanism Prize

Scientists from the United Kingdom 3

David Deutsch71.2Edmond Halley69.0Rosalind Franklin71.5

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