Davy, Sir Humphry (1778-1829), an English chemist, rose to fame as inventor of the miner’s safety lamp. The Davy lamp, perfected in 1815, greatly reduced the risks of coal mine explosions. At the age of 20, Davy experimented with the use of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, as an anesthetic. At 29, he became the first person to isolate sodium and potassium. He did this by passing an electric current through the fused hydroxides of these elements. He was also first to isolate barium, boron, calcium, magnesium, and strontium, and to demonstrate the principle of the incandescent light bulb.
Davy was born in Penzance, England, on Dec. 17, 1778. In 1802, he became professor of chemistry at the Royal Institution in London. Davy was knighted in 1812 and elected president of the Royal Society in 1820. Sir Humphry died on May 29, 1829.
See also Aluminum (History); Chlorine; Electric arc; Safety lamp.
