Bøker av Humphry Davy

Championed as one of the gentlest and most calming of field sports, angling has had its notable votaries throughout its history, from Isaak Walton to Horatio Nelson. In this charming book on the pleasures of fly fishing, the eminent chemist Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829) adds his name to the list. He assigns his often poetic arguments to an imaginary cast of four friends, some of whom adore the sport while others question its morality as they embark on a series of angling trips. As their conversations progress, the friends discuss entomology and biology, the finer techniques of landing trout, and the use of peacock feathers and yellow monkey fur in the making of artificial flies. Originally published in 1828, Davy's book offers a glimpse of the sportsman behind the chemist and remains both accessible and instructive for modern enthusiasts.

Self-taught chemist and inventor Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829) was one of the first professional scientists of his age. President of the Royal Society from 1820 to 1827, he was also a brilliant lecturer whose popularising of science made him famous. He also pioneered electrochemistry, isolating potassium, sodium and calcium. But Davy is best known for creating the safety lamp when he was asked to address the frequent occurrence of explosions in coal mines. He realised that firedamp - flammable gases such as methane - was ignited at high temperature by the open flames of miners' lamps. In 1815, he devised a lamp with a mesh screen that prevented ignition of firedamp; this application of science allowed miners to work in greater safety. First published in 1818 and revised in 1825, this work details the invention that cemented Davy's position as a national hero and earned him the Royal Society's Rumford Medal.

Arguably the first celebrity scientist, and the epitome of the 'Romantic' natural philosopher, Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829) was a brilliant lecturer whose popularising of science made him famous. He pioneered electrochemistry, befriended the Romantic poets, invented a safety lamp for miners and even wrote on angling (see On the Safety Lamp and Salmonia, also reissued in this series). Described as 'the last words of a dying Plato', Consolations in Travel was published posthumously in 1830. It is an intriguing mixture of poetry, autobiographical sketches, descriptions of dreams, philosophical musings on the afterlife and, in the view of one contemporary review, 'some [matter] which sober reason must dissent as extravagant, and almost bordering on the absurd'. Here, in his final months, Davy turns to the eternal, believing that through science all the questions of the universe could be answered. It remains a poignant and controversial postscript to an illustrious life.