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Penzance
Cornwall South West England Market Jew Street |
Sir Humphry DavyPenzance 1778 - Genève 1829British chemist and inventor (Wikipedia) |
W. & T. Wills
1872 |
Davy was born in Penzance in 1778 the son of a woodcarver. At the age of 16 he was apprenticed to a local doctor and became interested in chemistry. In 1798 he left to work in a medical laboratory in Bristol. There he discovered the pain relieving effects of laughing gas (nitrous oxide) and suggested its anaesthetic use.
By the age of 24 Davy was a professor of chemistry at the Royal Institution. He founded the science of electro-chemistry and discovered six new elements including potassium and sodium. He became famous and was honoured throughout Europe.
Davy is remembered now for his work on the miners safety lamp which bears his name, but perhaps his greatest contribution to science was the encouragement he gave to the young Michael Faraday.
Davy kept in touch with his roots and supported the Royal Geological Society in Penzance and left money to his old school. He died in 1829.
This statue was erected in 1872 and was produced by the sculptors Wills of London and is of white marble.
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