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 Britain, demonstrating the development of science and its institutions during this crucial period in history.
- ISBN13 9780521563093
- Publish Date 11 April 1996 (first published 1 January 1992)
- Publish Status Inactive
- Out of Print 1 March 2005
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Cambridge University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 232
- Language English