On the Safety Lamp for Preventing Explosions in Mines, Houses Lighted by Gas, Spirit Warehouses, or Magazines in Ships, etc.
With Some Researches on Flame

An account of a life-saving invention for miners by a self-taught chemist, published in 1825.

Humphry Davy (Author)

9781108052139, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 14 June 2012

170 pages, 1 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 1 cm, 0.22 kg

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.

Preface
1. General views of the progress of the researches on the safety lamp
2. Extracts from papers on the fire-damp, the safety lamp, and on flame
3. Some extracts from communications on the applications of the safety lamp
4. Conclusion
Appendices.

Subject Areas: Physical chemistry [PNR]