Humphrey Davy (1778-1829),British chemist. Davy invented the miner's safety lamp (Davy lamp). In 1807 and 1808,he discovered the elements potassium,sodium,calcium,barium,magnesium and strontium. Between 1801 and 1812 he worked and lectured as a professor at the Royal Institution,London. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1804,knighted in 1812,and awarded a baronetcy in 1818. He was President of the Royal Society from 1820 to 1827. This engraving by James Thomson,from the 1820s,is based on a portrait by James Lonsdale. It was republished in 'History of the Institution of Electrical Engineers 1871-1931' (Appleyard,1939) |