1778-1829

English Chemist

Humphry Davy is most famous for his discoveries of potassium, sodium, chlorine, and other elements using powerful voltaic batteries. Through his research he established the science of electrochemistry. On a more practical note, Davy also invented the miner's safety lamp.

Davy was born to a family of modest means in the remote coastal town of Penzance in Cornwall, England. A mediocre student, he preferred the rocky ocean cliffs to the classroom and spent his spare time writing poetry and reading philosophy. At age 16 he entered an apprenticeship as an apothecary to a local doctor, hoping some day to become a medical doctor himself. At age 18 he began studying chemistry and performing his own experiments.

The young Davy's chemical research so impressed a few local scientists that in 1798 at age 19 he was recommended for a position at Dr. Thomas Beddoes's Pneumatic Institution in Bristol...