Humphry Davy

In this illuminating and entertaining biography David Knight makes use of Humphry Davy's poetry, notebooks and informal writings to introduce us to one of the first professional scientists. Davy is best remembered for his work on laughing gas, for the arc lamp, for isolating sodium and potassium, for his theory that chemical affinity is electrical and, of course, for his safety lamp. His lectures on science made the fortunes of the Royal Institution in London and he taught chemistry to the young Faraday. However, as well as making a career in science he is recognized for his poetry and was the friend of Coleridge, Wordsworth and Byron. By investigating Humphry Davy's life David Knight shows what it was like to be a creative scientist in Regency Britain, demonstrating the development of science and its institutions during this crucial period in history.