Humphry Davy: Science and Power

Cambridge Science Biographies

by David M. Knight

In this illuminating and entertaining biography David Knight draws upon 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. He is also recognized for his poetry and was the friend of Coleridge, Wordsworth and Byron. By investigating Davy's life Knight shows what it was like to be a creative scientist in Regency England, demonstrating the development of science and its institutions during this crucial period in history.

232 pages, Hardcover

First published April 26, 1996

About the author

David Marcus Knight was a science historian.

Reviews

[Randy Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read about Sir Humphrey Davy in a book recounting the history of the periodic table and his name came up again and again. I found this short bio in the public library and was intrigued to learn more. Davy comes after Isaac Newton as the next great British scientist and after Antoine Lavoisier as the next great Western chemist in the early 19th century.

He lived during a time when being a scientist wasn’t distinguished from being a philosopher. Davy often wrote poetry and became famous as an exciting lecturer who made the ladies swoon. But his heart was in the laboratory research and he made sure he stuck with the facts. His research led to the discovery of potassium and sodium and he didn’t stop there. His crowning achievement was inventing a reliable light source that attached to a miners’ helmet.

Sadly he was appointed the President of the Royal Society in Britain where it appears the Peter Principle reared its ugly head. He wasn’t a great administrator and people disliked him turning Davy into a cranky, restless sickly man who overdid it with the opiates of the day. He died at fifty. Let’s this be a lesson to all the terrific individual contributors out there! Beware of managerial success.

[BeckyT · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knight's biography is like hearing from an engaging history teacher, who throws in those details that bring out historical figures with all their human eccentricity, and Knight captures the oddness of science during the Romantic period.

[Paulo Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good biography, and it teaches us how science was built. We have been living with the results of scientific research that we take for granted, it's really interesting to know how our present knowledge was acquired - we use everyday sodium and potassium levels, but there was a time when these elements were unknown, and someone discovered them!

[Bob Gustafson]

This book is very detailed and very boring.