Humphry Davy, Poet and Philosopher

This work is a well-written and concise biography of Sir Humphry Davy by T. E. Thorpe. The details of Sir Davy's personal history presented in this work are sourced from several memoirs and journals by various writers of that period. Thorpe mentions two primary sources: Dr. Paris's memoirs and the memoirs of Sir Humphry Davy's brother, Dr. John Davy. Davy played such a significant part in London's social and philosophical world that his name repeatedly occurred in his time's memoirs and biographical literature. Sir Humphry Davy was an English chemist and inventor. He invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He experimented with nitrous oxide in 1799 and was amazed at how it made him laugh, so he nicknamed it «laughing gas» and wrote about its potential anesthetic properties in relieving pain during surgery. Contents include: Penzance: 1778–1798 The Pneumatic Institution, Bristol: 1798–1801 The Pneumatic Institution, Bristol: 1798–1801 (continued) The Royal Institution The Chemical Laboratory of the Royal Institution The Isolation of the Metals of the Alkalis Chlorine Marriage—Knighthood—"Elements of Chemical Philosophy"—Nitrogen Trichloride—Fluorine Davy and Faraday—Iodine The Safety Lamp Davy and the Royal Society—His Last Days