Davy, Sir Humphry. Born in 1778. English chemist. Native of Penzance. Two papers on nitrous oxide obtained him the post of assistant lecturer on chemistry to the Royal Institution, London, and in a few weeks he was raised to the chief lectureship. In 1803 Davy became a fellow, and in 1807 secretary of the Royal Society. His Bakerian lecture in 1806 gained him the 3,000 franc prize of the French Institute. In 1815 he invented the miner's safety lamp. Davy was knighted in 1812, made a baronet and elected president of the Royal Society in 1820. Failing health compelled him to leave England, and he died at Geneva in 1829 of paralysis.

---