Tuesday, November 21, 2006

SIR HUMPHRY DAVY




DAVY'S STATUE AND BIRTHPLACE IN PENZANCE







Apart from the famous lamp, Davy also isolated three elements, alkali metals Sodium (Na), Potassium (K), and Calcium (Ca). He discovered Nitrous Oxide, and its anaesthetic properties, often referred to as "laughing gas." This, when first discovered, was often produced and used by nobility and gentry of the day, much like "recreational drugs" today. Davy was also an accomplished poet, and known to Coleridge, and Byron et al. Davy also travelled extensively through Europe during the Napoleonic wars, such was the respect he commanded at the time for his amazing achievements.
THANKS TO MARTIN ORCHARD FOR THE PHOTOS AND FACTS

1 comment:

  1. Anthony Anderson3:41 PM

    I went to the Humphry Davy Grammar School in Penzance with a Martin Orchard 1966- 1972. His sole ambition at school was to be a tin miner. Is the same man? Anthony Anderson

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