(1778–1829). The inventor of the Davy safety lamp was Humphry Davy, an English chemist who made many notable contributions to science, especially in electrochemistry. He was the first to isolate several chemical elements, including sodium and potassium, and was one of the discoverers of the element boron. While investigating nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, he found that it had anesthetic properties that could be useful in surgery.
Davy was born on Dec. 17, 1778, in Penzance. He was the eldest of five children. From an early age he showed an interest in reading. His father died in 1794. The following year he began working for a surgeon-apothecary, and he soon developed a keen interest in chemistry. Before he was 20 years old he was appointed laboratory head of the Pneumatic Institution at Clifton.
In his new work Davy directed experiments on the effects of breathing certain gases. On one occasion, he nearly killed himself by inhaling a mixture of toxic gases. He was appointed an assistant lecturer in chemistry at the new Royal Institution in 1801 and became a full professor the following year. Davy’s lecture demonstrations attracted large crowds. His research included work on early forms of electric batteries and the use of electricity to isolate chemical elements. He also analyzed minerals and completed many studies in tanning and agricultural chemistry. For several years Michael Faraday, another scientist who was later to achieve great fame, served as Davy’s laboratory assistant (see Faraday, Michael).
In 1815 Davy invented a safety lamp to help prevent explosions in coal mines. Explosions were a serious hazard in the mines, because heat from lamp flames would ignite methane released from coal deposits. In Davy’s lamp, wire gauze surrounds and confines the lamp’s flame and prevents its heat from passing into the gaseous surroundings.
Davy was knighted in 1812 and made a baronet in 1818. He was president of the Royal Society of London from 1820 until he became ill in 1827. He died on May 29, 1829, in Geneva, Switzerland.