Sir
Humphry Davy
was born on December 17, 1778 in Penzance, England. Early in his
career he was a lecturer of chemistry at the Royal Institution in
London.
Among his applied uses of chemistry are the miner's safety lamp, the anesthetic effects of nitrous oxide (laughing gas), and sheathing for ships. During his career, Davy isolated the elements of potassium, calcium, and sodium by electrolysis (passing an electrical current through a solution). He is also credited with the discovery of boron and the discovery that diamonds are composed of carbon. Davy demonstrated that the "rare earth elements" are really metal oxides rather than pure substances. In another area of chemistry, he demonstrated that acids contain hydrogen which accounts for their properties.
During his career, Davy was awarded the Napoleon Prize by the Institut de France, the gold and silver Rumford medals of the Royal Society, a baronetcy, and Presidency of the Royal Society. His writings include Elements of Chemical Philosophy (1812) and Elements of Agricultural Chemistry (1813). Sir Humphry Davy died on May 29, 1829.
References
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Daintith, J. Mitchell, S., Tootill, E. (1981). A Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists. New York: Facts on File.
Debus, A.G. (1968). World Who's Who in Science: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Scientists from Antiquity to the Present. Chicago: Marquis.
Howard, A.V. (1951). Chamber's Dictionary of Scientists. London: Chambers.
McGraw-Hill (1966). McGraw-Hill Modern Men of Science. New York: McGraw Hill.
Taton, R. (Ed.) (1963). History of Science: Ancient and Medieval Science from the Beginnings to 1450. New York: Basic Books.