1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm tra 3 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:17,599 Speaker 1: c Ev Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. This is part 4 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 1: two of our accidental two parter on chemist Sir Humphrey Davy. 5 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:26,120 Speaker 1: In part one, we talked about how he became medical 6 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 1: superintendent at the Pneumatic Institute and did a bunch of 7 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:34,800 Speaker 1: experiments involving nitrous oxside and then wrote a five hundred 8 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:37,559 Speaker 1: and eighty page book about it. He was only nineteen 9 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:39,559 Speaker 1: when he got that job. He did not have a 10 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:44,360 Speaker 1: lot of formal education. When I started envisioning this episode, 11 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 1: I sort of thought that was going to be the episode. 12 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:50,880 Speaker 1: But he also had a whole career after that point, 13 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: and that is what we are talking about today. So 14 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: last time, our discussion of Humphrey Davies's work was mainly 15 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: about gases and specifically nitrous oxide, but that's not the 16 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: only thing that he was working on. He published his 17 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 1: first paper in the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions in eighteen 18 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: oh one, and that paper was on the voltaic pile, 19 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: an early electrical battery invented by Alessandro volta in a 20 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:19,759 Speaker 1: voltaic pile, Alternating discs of two different medals, such as 21 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: copper and zinc, are stacked together, along with fabric discs 22 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: that are soaked in something like saltwater or vinegar. Initially, 23 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:30,320 Speaker 1: it was believed that the current in a voltaic pile 24 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: was caused by the voltage difference between the two alternating medals. 25 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: Davy's paper argued correctly that it was really the result 26 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:42,039 Speaker 1: of a chemical reaction. In March of eighteen oh one, 27 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: Davy was offered a position at the Royal Institution, which 28 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 1: had been founded in seventeen ninety nine to teach the 29 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: general public about science. He was assistant lecturer in chemistry, 30 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: director of the laboratory, and assistant editor of the institution's journals. 31 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: Adition to his salary, this position came with a room 32 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: call and candles so charming. We have discussed about how 33 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: most of Davey's education was self directed, and this was 34 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: not all that unusual for someone of his social class, 35 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,360 Speaker 1: especially in a field like chemistry, which was basically brand new. 36 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:24,519 Speaker 1: This was also the age of the so called gentleman's scientist, 37 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:28,400 Speaker 1: although there were also women like Mary Anning and Caroline Herschel. 38 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,800 Speaker 1: A lot of scientists pursued their work independently, often without 39 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:35,840 Speaker 1: any kind of backing from a formal institution or a 40 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:40,079 Speaker 1: lot of formal education, and the field had not been professionalized. 41 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:44,360 Speaker 1: But even in that context, Davy's appointment to this position 42 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:47,400 Speaker 1: was pretty remarkable. It wasn't just that he didn't have 43 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 1: formal education in chemistry. He didn't have much formal education 44 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 1: at all, and he was only twenty two, already well 45 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:59,080 Speaker 1: published when he was offered this position. His work with 46 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:02,799 Speaker 1: nitrous oxide it didn't entirely end when he left the 47 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: Pneumatic Institute. On June twentieth, eighteen oh one, he gave 48 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: a public lecture at the Royal Institution. This lecture was 49 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,519 Speaker 1: on respiration, and he told the audience that anybody who 50 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: wanted to could experience this gas afterward. In the words 51 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:22,280 Speaker 1: of a nineteen thirty write up on Davy in Science 52 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:27,079 Speaker 1: Progress in the twentieth Century, quote, the spectators were amused 53 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:30,800 Speaker 1: by the antics of the experimenters, and one subject at 54 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:35,839 Speaker 1: least enjoyed paradise. For mister Underwood was so transported and 55 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: so reluctant to leave Heaven for Earth that the breathing 56 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 1: bag had to be snatched forcibly from him. As a 57 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: side note, the Pneumatic Institute didn't keep his focus on 58 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: gases as a curative forever. In eighteen oh four it 59 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: became the Preventive Medical Institution for the Sick and Drooping Poor, which, 60 00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: as its name suggests, was a hospital for the poor 61 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 1: focused primarily on the treatment of tuberculosis. Its founder, Thomas Beddows, 62 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 1: died four years later. Some of Davies's other lectures that 63 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: the Royal Institution were on tanning. He tried to figure 64 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:16,160 Speaker 1: out how tanning worked as at a chemical level, I'm 65 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 1: talking about the tanning of animal hides, not going out 66 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: for a suntan, so he was figuring out how that 67 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:26,599 Speaker 1: worked and whether there were improvements that could be made 68 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:30,839 Speaker 1: to the process. He concluded that workers at England's best 69 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 1: tanneries had already developed pretty good methods for their work, 70 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:37,039 Speaker 1: so he didn't try to come in and revolutionize the 71 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 1: whole process. But he did look for substitutes for some 72 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 1: of the more expensive and harder to source materials that 73 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: were used in tanning. In particular, he found a substitute 74 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: for oak bark, which was in short supply, but that 75 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 1: substitute was katachew, which was an extract from acacia trees 76 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: which grew in India. So of course that gets into 77 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: a whole tangle of British imperialism and colonialism. He also 78 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:08,160 Speaker 1: worked in agriculture, including testing the quality of the soil 79 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:13,120 Speaker 1: and developing recommendations for different types of fertilizer. This followed 80 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:16,200 Speaker 1: the same basic pattern as his tannery work. He was 81 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: figuring out the chemical processes involved and making recommendations for 82 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:24,120 Speaker 1: adjustments when necessary, but generally he thought what Britain's farmers 83 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: were already doing was working pretty well, and he did 84 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:30,719 Speaker 1: not try to totally re envision things. He published Elements 85 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:34,280 Speaker 1: of Agricultural Chemistry based on this work in eighteen thirteen. 86 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: Davy also gave lots of public lectures on chemistry more generally, 87 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:42,920 Speaker 1: and soon he was really in high demand as both 88 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: a speaker and a dinner guest. He was charismatic and 89 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,600 Speaker 1: used a lot of showmanship in his lectures, and he 90 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: tended to attract a lot of women in the audience 91 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:57,560 Speaker 1: and around town. There are some sort of comedic illustrations 92 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:01,919 Speaker 1: of him doing lecturing in which like audiences overwhelmingly women. 93 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 1: There are also stories about him working in his lab 94 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: until the absolute last second, and then putting a clean 95 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 1: shirt on on top of what he already had on 96 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:14,839 Speaker 1: as he walked out the door to go to some 97 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: dinner engagement. Davy became a fellow of the Royal Society 98 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:22,160 Speaker 1: in eighteen oh four, and he was awarded the Society's 99 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 1: Copley Medal in eighteen oh five. The Copley Medal is 100 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:28,719 Speaker 1: an award for outstanding achievement. It is one of the oldest, 101 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:32,599 Speaker 1: if not the oldest, scientific awards in the world. In 102 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 1: eighteen oh seven, Davy was elected as one of two 103 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,599 Speaker 1: secretaries of the Royal Society, and he was also awarded 104 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 1: the Napoleon Prize from the Institute de France, although England 105 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 1: and France were at war and a naval blockade meant 106 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: that there was no way for him to even be 107 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:50,400 Speaker 1: informed that he had won this prize. That's going to 108 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:53,839 Speaker 1: come up again later though. Also in eighteen oh seven, 109 00:06:54,120 --> 00:07:00,279 Speaker 1: Davey started working on isolating and identifying different elements using electrolysis. 110 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,480 Speaker 1: This was connected to his earlier work with the voltaic pile. 111 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: He had concluded that if a chemical reaction could generate 112 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: an electrical current, then you could maybe basically do the opposite. 113 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: An electrical current could also be used to initiate a 114 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 1: chemical reaction, so he used electricity to isolate pure sodium 115 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: from caustic soda and potassium from caustic potash. Apparently he 116 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,880 Speaker 1: wanted the word potassium to start with pt, like the 117 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:35,760 Speaker 1: word pterodactyl, but a transcriber misspelled it in the first 118 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 1: manuscript on the subject as that was being prepared, and 119 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 1: this like incorrect in Davy's mind. Spelling stuck, Let's just 120 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: go with this. Yeah. Also, a lot of these elements 121 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 1: are like very reactive when they are isolated on their own, 122 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 1: so this probably involved some very dramatic moments in the lab. 123 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:59,160 Speaker 1: Davy isolated more elements in eighteen oh eight, including boron 124 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 1: from boricap acid and calcium, which that process involved electrolyzing 125 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 1: lime and mercuric oxide together. By this point, Humphrey was 126 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:13,120 Speaker 1: incredibly well respected and he was influential as a scientist. 127 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 1: He was also trying to put his work into use 128 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:19,440 Speaker 1: out in the world. At one point, he visited Newgate 129 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 1: Prison to evaluate its ventilation system, and while there he 130 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:28,160 Speaker 1: contracted typhus, also known as jail fever. In eighteen ten. 131 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:32,240 Speaker 1: Some of Davies's work focused on acidity. We mentioned back 132 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: in Part one that Antoine Laurent la Foisier had believed 133 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: that oxygen was present in all acids, and he had 134 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:44,719 Speaker 1: coined the name for oxygen based on that idea. At 135 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 1: the time, hydrochloric acid was known as muriatic acid, which 136 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:53,320 Speaker 1: was the term some people still use today. Lavoisier had 137 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: believed that removing the hydrogen from muriatic acid resulted in 138 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:03,840 Speaker 1: oxy muratic acid, and that that contained oxygen, But Davy 139 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 1: concluded that this did not contain oxygen, and that in fact, 140 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:10,720 Speaker 1: it was not a compound at all. Instead, he said 141 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,520 Speaker 1: this was its own element, chlorine, which he named for 142 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:19,800 Speaker 1: its green color. Davy didn't actually discover chlorine, that's usually 143 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 1: attributed to Karl Wilhelmschill in seventeen seventy four, but Davy 144 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:26,640 Speaker 1: was the one who determined that it was an element. 145 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: Davy was awarded an honorary doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin 146 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:36,040 Speaker 1: in eighteen eleven. On April eighth, eighteen twelve, he was knighted, 147 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:39,200 Speaker 1: and three days after that he married Jane, a priest 148 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: who he had proposed to about a month before. She 149 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 1: was a wealthy widow and a socialite and an intellectual, 150 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:49,679 Speaker 1: sometimes described as a bluestocking, and she had hosted her 151 00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:53,679 Speaker 1: own salon. Jane had inherited money from her late husband 152 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,240 Speaker 1: and from her father, who was a merchant whose business 153 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: had been primarily out of Antigua, where he dealt in 154 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 1: both goods and enslaved people. Also, in eighteen twelve, Davy 155 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:07,880 Speaker 1: published a book titled Elements of Chemical Philosophy, which was 156 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:11,320 Speaker 1: dedicated to his wife, and that same year he was 157 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:16,000 Speaker 1: injured in a lab accident while working with nitrogen trichloride, 158 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:20,320 Speaker 1: which is highly explosive. While he was recovering from this accident, 159 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:23,480 Speaker 1: he needed an assistance, especially to help with things like 160 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 1: record keeping, so he hired twenty one year old Michael Faraday. 161 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 1: Faraday continued working with Davy for years. Sometimes his role 162 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:35,200 Speaker 1: was more like a valet or a personal secretary, which 163 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:38,400 Speaker 1: she seems to have found pretty degrading. Sometimes he was 164 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:42,360 Speaker 1: more like a lab assistant or an apprentice. Davey recovered 165 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:45,720 Speaker 1: from his injuries in eighteen thirteen, and that year he 166 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:49,160 Speaker 1: also left his position at the Royal Institution. Thanks to 167 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:52,480 Speaker 1: his marriage, he no longer needed the job. But in 168 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 1: spite of their common intellectual ground, Humphrey and Jane don't 169 00:10:56,880 --> 00:10:59,560 Speaker 1: seem to have been very well matched. There was just 170 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:01,520 Speaker 1: a lot of friction between the two of them, and 171 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 1: a lot of public bickering in the later years of 172 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 1: their marriage. Sometimes they spent long stretches of time apart, 173 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:12,200 Speaker 1: each of them pursuing their own interests, but they also 174 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 1: did travel together at some points, including taking a trip 175 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 1: to France in October of eighteen thirteen to collect that 176 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: medal that Davy had been awarded back in eighteen oh seven. 177 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:28,319 Speaker 1: It is a weird trip. England and France were still 178 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:31,959 Speaker 1: at war with each other. The Davies apparently made this 179 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 1: trip along with Michael Faraday, with Napoleon's permission, but even 180 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:41,319 Speaker 1: with that permission they were still arrested and detained after 181 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 1: they got to France. Once they were released, they went 182 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:48,120 Speaker 1: to Paris. They met Napoleon's second wife, Marie Luise. They 183 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:52,680 Speaker 1: did not meet Napoleon himself. Davy seems to have butted 184 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:55,199 Speaker 1: heads with a lot of people on this trip, making 185 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:59,040 Speaker 1: no secret about his antipathy for the French. This was 186 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:02,520 Speaker 1: about politics and the ongoing wars between England and France, 187 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:06,280 Speaker 1: and it was also about science. We have already talked 188 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:08,600 Speaker 1: about his criticisms of some of the work of French 189 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:13,280 Speaker 1: chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier. He also had a huge rivalry 190 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:17,360 Speaker 1: with French chemist and physicist Joseph Luis guille Lussac, with 191 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:19,960 Speaker 1: the two of them arguing over who should get credit 192 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:23,319 Speaker 1: for the identification of iodine as an element, which was 193 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 1: connected to the work Davey carried out while in Paris. 194 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:30,480 Speaker 1: Bernard Courtois had first described iodine in eighteen eleven, and 195 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:33,840 Speaker 1: then in eighteen thirteen, Gui le Sac and Davy had 196 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:37,080 Speaker 1: written work identifying it as an element. About a week apart. 197 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:40,280 Speaker 1: This is a trip where I was like, hey, a friend, 198 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:44,360 Speaker 1: you didn't have to go to France and laker with 199 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:48,559 Speaker 1: everyone that you were angry at and your nation was 200 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:53,880 Speaker 1: at war with it. He wanted that award. Some of 201 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:55,839 Speaker 1: the descriptions of it just make him sound like a 202 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:59,960 Speaker 1: big jerk to me. After leaving France, the party would 203 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: on to Italy. Eventually, as we know, Napoleon was forced 204 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:07,199 Speaker 1: to abdicate as Emperor of the French and he was 205 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 1: exiled to Elba. The party decided they should go back 206 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:14,560 Speaker 1: to Britain after they heard of Napoleon's return from exile 207 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:19,200 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifteen. After returning to Britain, Davy was asked 208 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:22,199 Speaker 1: to work on the problem of coal mine explosions, and 209 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:24,360 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about that after we pause for 210 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:37,240 Speaker 1: a sponsor break. Humphrey Davy was living at a time 211 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:41,439 Speaker 1: when demand for coal was skyrocketing in Britain and in 212 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: other parts of the world due to the Industrial Revolution. 213 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:49,160 Speaker 1: In the mid eighteenth century, Britain had been producing about 214 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:53,080 Speaker 1: five million tons of coal per year. By the mid 215 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:57,640 Speaker 1: nineteenth century, that number had increased more than tenfold. As 216 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:02,880 Speaker 1: railroads and factories burned coal to drive steam engines. Miners 217 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:05,560 Speaker 1: had to work faster and dig deeper, and that made 218 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 1: a job that was already difficult and dirty, increasingly unsafe 219 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:15,280 Speaker 1: in the face of mine collapses and explosions of flammable gas, 220 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:18,280 Speaker 1: which at the time were known as fire damp. One 221 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: of Britain's worst mine explosions happened on May twenty fifth, 222 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:25,560 Speaker 1: eighteen twelve, at the Felling Colliery. This was an enormous 223 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: explosion that was heard for miles and it killed ninety 224 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:30,720 Speaker 1: two men and boys who had been working in the mine. 225 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:35,160 Speaker 1: When crews attempted to reopen the mine, it took days 226 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: for the flammable gases inside to become diluted enough for 227 00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:43,320 Speaker 1: anyone to try to enter. The Society for Preventing Accidents 228 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 1: in Mines was established a following year, and they contacted 229 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:51,640 Speaker 1: Humphrey Davy for help. Davy's first step was to collect 230 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:55,120 Speaker 1: samples of gas from the mine and analyze them, and 231 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:59,840 Speaker 1: he concluded that firedamp was primarily methane. This was not 232 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:03,600 Speaker 1: new discovery. Other researchers had already said this is methane, 233 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 1: but he confirmed that earlier work, and then he started 234 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:10,560 Speaker 1: experimenting with it, collecting it and testing it in things 235 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: like jars and tubes and other vessels to figure out 236 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:19,760 Speaker 1: exactly in which conditions it would explode. He eventually concluded 237 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:24,040 Speaker 1: that firedamp only exploded when exposed to very high temperatures, 238 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:27,920 Speaker 1: which is not really surprising, but the methods to light 239 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:31,240 Speaker 1: the mines involved an open flame, so this meant that 240 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:35,920 Speaker 1: the risk of explosion was just constant. So to solve 241 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:39,200 Speaker 1: this problem, he set out to create a safer lamp, 242 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:42,520 Speaker 1: and Davy's first design enclosed the flame in a glass 243 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:46,080 Speaker 1: chimney with tubes to allow air into the lantern and 244 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,760 Speaker 1: exhaust out of it. This limited the amount of methane 245 00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:52,120 Speaker 1: that could come into contact with the flame, and it 246 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:55,040 Speaker 1: also gave the gases time to cool as they moved 247 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,640 Speaker 1: into and out of the tubes. It wasn't possible for 248 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:01,520 Speaker 1: large amounts of methane to move through these tubes, so 249 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:04,800 Speaker 1: exposure to fire damp could cause the flame to burn 250 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:08,720 Speaker 1: a bit brighter, but not explode, and the outside of 251 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:11,200 Speaker 1: the lamp did not get hot enough to cause anything 252 00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 1: to ignite. Soon, Davy modified this design, replacing the glass 253 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:21,400 Speaker 1: chimney with a mesh screen after determining exactly how fine 254 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:25,440 Speaker 1: the mesh had to be to prevent explosions. While it 255 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:28,480 Speaker 1: was possible for methane to make its way through this 256 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 1: screen and burn inside of the lamp, that flame could 257 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:35,440 Speaker 1: not pass outside of the screen and cause an explosion. 258 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 1: This lamp could also help miners detect whether there were 259 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 1: build ups of dangerous gases in the area based on 260 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 1: the height and the color of the flame. Davy started 261 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:49,880 Speaker 1: publishing papers on this research within a couple of weeks 262 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 1: of starting work in eighteen fifteen, and by eighteen sixteen, 263 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:57,040 Speaker 1: lamps he had made were being successfully tested in mines. 264 00:16:57,760 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 1: When a friend said that he should patent his invent, 265 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:02,560 Speaker 1: he said, quote, I never thought of such a thing. 266 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:05,920 Speaker 1: My sole object was to serve the cause of humanity, 267 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:09,080 Speaker 1: and if I have succeeded, I am amply rewarded in 268 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:13,240 Speaker 1: the gratifying reflection of having done so. More wealth could 269 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 1: not increase either my fame or my happiness. It might 270 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:19,840 Speaker 1: undoubtedly enable me to put four horses to my carriage, 271 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:22,480 Speaker 1: but what would it avail me to have it said 272 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:26,280 Speaker 1: that Sir Humphrey drives his carriage in four I love that. 273 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:29,920 Speaker 1: In March of eighteen seventeen, Davy was thanked for his 274 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:32,720 Speaker 1: service to miners at a general meeting of mine owners 275 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:36,200 Speaker 1: that was held in Newcastle. He was also awarded the 276 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:41,520 Speaker 1: Royal Society's Rumford Medal and made a baronet. But Humphrey 277 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 1: Davy was not the only person to develop a miner's 278 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:50,480 Speaker 1: safety lamp. Around this time, George Stevenson call your Engineer, 279 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:54,920 Speaker 1: at Killingworth Colliery in Northumberland, had also developed a safety lamp, 280 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:58,760 Speaker 1: pretty much by trial and error. This lamp was known 281 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:01,119 Speaker 1: as the Jordi and it was popular in the area 282 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:05,119 Speaker 1: near where he lived. Like Davey's initial design used a 283 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:08,360 Speaker 1: long glass chimney as well as a series of tubes 284 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 1: to allow air end to fuel the flame. The chimney 285 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:14,960 Speaker 1: was also protected by a metal tube that had holes 286 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:19,800 Speaker 1: through it. Stevenson contended that Davy had stolen his design, 287 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: while Davy called Stevenson a pirate and a thief, so 288 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: that went great. Eventually, a committee was convened in Newcastle 289 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:31,600 Speaker 1: in November of eighteen seventeen, with Royal Society President Joseph 290 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:35,840 Speaker 1: Banks presiding. They cleared Davy of all suspicion of having 291 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:38,400 Speaker 1: stolen the design of the lamp. But to be clear, 292 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:43,159 Speaker 1: these were also Davy's friends and scientific associates. Yeah, and 293 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 1: the you know, Stevenson was not regarded as a scientist. 294 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 1: He was a mine engineer. A third contender for the 295 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:54,000 Speaker 1: inventor of the minor safety lamp was William Reid Clanny, 296 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:58,920 Speaker 1: doctor from Ireland. Davy had examined one of Clanny's lamps 297 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:03,000 Speaker 1: in October of eighteen fifteen, so this lamp definitely existed 298 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:06,360 Speaker 1: before any of Davey's were being tested in the mines. 299 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:10,159 Speaker 1: But Clanne's lamp was also a lot different from Davy's 300 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:14,400 Speaker 1: or Stevenson's. It was airtight and the air was supplied 301 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:19,320 Speaker 1: to the interior of the lamp through bellows. This meant 302 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:22,480 Speaker 1: that using this lamp required the mine to hire a 303 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:26,000 Speaker 1: boid to pump the bellows while the lamp was being used. 304 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:29,480 Speaker 1: All three of these designs were in use in different 305 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:32,640 Speaker 1: parts of Britain and Ireland in the early nineteenth century, 306 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:36,879 Speaker 1: with different designs being popular in different regions, but they 307 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:41,200 Speaker 1: did not totally eliminate mine explosions. Each type of lamp 308 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:44,159 Speaker 1: worked as long as it was used correctly and as 309 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:46,600 Speaker 1: long as it was in good repair, but there was 310 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 1: a lot that could go wrong. The designs that used 311 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:52,800 Speaker 1: glass chimneys meant that those chimneys were breakable, so if 312 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:56,040 Speaker 1: a lamp was dropped and broken, flammable gas around it 313 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:59,960 Speaker 1: could still explode. The wire mesh used in Davy's lamp 314 00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: could also corrode over time, leaving holes large enough for 315 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:07,639 Speaker 1: flames to pass through. Sometimes miners opened the cover or 316 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:10,720 Speaker 1: bypassed the safety to do something like light a pipe, 317 00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:12,960 Speaker 1: and some didn't want to use them at all because 318 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:16,440 Speaker 1: they were more cumbersome and unwieldy than other light sources. 319 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: Davy's refusal to patent his lamp, which we read earlier, 320 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:24,320 Speaker 1: makes them sound pretty noble. But he was also vocally 321 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:27,240 Speaker 1: critical of these other two lamps and the men who 322 00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:30,320 Speaker 1: had developed them, and he was really self righteous when 323 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:33,600 Speaker 1: it came to his descriptions of his own work. He 324 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:36,600 Speaker 1: was really angry about the fact that there were people 325 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:39,920 Speaker 1: who thought the other lamps were better, or that he 326 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:42,280 Speaker 1: did not deserve any credit for the one that he 327 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:47,520 Speaker 1: had developed. I read a paper that argued that, according 328 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:51,040 Speaker 1: to his behavior in this whole incident, he was a narcissist. 329 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:55,879 Speaker 1: Some of Davy's critics on this, though, were also very vocal. 330 00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:59,160 Speaker 1: There were people who favored the Stevenson or Clanny lamps 331 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:03,920 Speaker 1: who called Davy's lamp the murder lamp. Oh bless him. 332 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 1: It just sounds like a lot of people mad that 333 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:09,600 Speaker 1: they they're not getting lauded. Davy went on another trip 334 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:13,040 Speaker 1: to Europe after finishing his work on a minor safety lamp, 335 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:16,240 Speaker 1: and while there he tried and failed to find a 336 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:18,800 Speaker 1: way to unroll and read a scroll that had been 337 00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:23,080 Speaker 1: retrieved from herculaneum. Was also involved chemistry. He didn't just 338 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 1: try to open it up, but the fact that this 339 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,920 Speaker 1: came up recently on Unearthed. I know how excited would 340 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:32,280 Speaker 1: he be to see the stuff that people have developed today? 341 00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:39,600 Speaker 1: He might be mad? Uh. In eighteen eighteen, Mary Shelley 342 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:43,080 Speaker 1: published her book Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, and in 343 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:47,000 Speaker 1: this book, Professor Waldman is a chemist who delivers a 344 00:21:47,119 --> 00:21:52,760 Speaker 1: lecture that's attended by Victor Frankenstein, and this chemist inspires 345 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:57,480 Speaker 1: Victor Frankenstein's later work. Sometimes Humphrey Davy is cited as 346 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 1: an inspiration for this character, while other people cite a 347 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:05,280 Speaker 1: similarity to various other British scientists from the early nineteenth century. 348 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,520 Speaker 1: Mary Shelley definitely went to some of Davy's lectures, and 349 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,399 Speaker 1: of course she was also influenced by the work of 350 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:15,920 Speaker 1: the Romantic poets like Samuel Taylor, Coleridge Shoe we talked 351 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:19,840 Speaker 1: about in Part one, who were part of Davy's social circle. Yeah, 352 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:21,879 Speaker 1: they had a lot of the Venn diagram of their 353 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:28,119 Speaker 1: social groups. Has Humphrey Davies's career as a chemist had 354 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: been groundbreaking and influential, but that is not the note 355 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:34,000 Speaker 1: that he went out on, and we'll talk about that 356 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:48,320 Speaker 1: after a sponsor break. In eighteen twenty, Joseph Banks, president 357 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:52,399 Speaker 1: of the Royal Society died. Banks had been president of 358 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:57,440 Speaker 1: the Royal Society for forty two years. His interim successor 359 00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:01,040 Speaker 1: was William Hyde Wallaston, who served until an election could 360 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:04,800 Speaker 1: be held, and then Humphrey Davy was elected in November 361 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:08,920 Speaker 1: of eighteen twenty. Davy's tenure as President of the Royal 362 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:13,520 Speaker 1: Society really did not go well. Under Banks's four plus 363 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:17,560 Speaker 1: decades of leadership, the Royal Society had become part social 364 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:22,040 Speaker 1: club for gentlemen and part scientific institution. Some of its 365 00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:25,720 Speaker 1: members were Banks's personal friends who didn't necessarily have any 366 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 1: interest or aptitude in science. Davy wanted to reform the 367 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:33,240 Speaker 1: Royal Society into a bona fide scientific institution, and of 368 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:37,040 Speaker 1: course that raised the ire of people who liked it 369 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:40,680 Speaker 1: the way it was. Divisions developed between the people who 370 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:43,400 Speaker 1: wanted reform and the ones who wanted to keep things 371 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:46,720 Speaker 1: the way they were, the way that Banks had done it. Yeah, 372 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:51,159 Speaker 1: this is also connected to the whole process of professionalizing 373 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:57,560 Speaker 1: and formalizing scientific fields. His presidency also threw a wrench 374 00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:01,880 Speaker 1: and to his relationship with Michael Faraday. Faraday had worked 375 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:04,440 Speaker 1: with Davy for eight years at this point, and he'd 376 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:08,440 Speaker 1: gone from basically being Davy's scribe and assistant to a 377 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:12,680 Speaker 1: respected scientist in his own right. He could no longer 378 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,480 Speaker 1: be described as anything like an apprentice, and he didn't 379 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:19,520 Speaker 1: need Davy's supervision. But the Royal Society also had its 380 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:22,399 Speaker 1: own internal politics that Faraday kind of ran a foul of. 381 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:26,000 Speaker 1: Like William Hyde, Wallaston was doing a lot of work 382 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:30,640 Speaker 1: with electromagnetism, and he seemed to think that Faraday's work 383 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:34,560 Speaker 1: on the same subject was horning in on his own territory. 384 00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:38,480 Speaker 1: And then Faraday felt like Davy did not give him 385 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:43,080 Speaker 1: enough support in this dispute. Things became even more contentious 386 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:47,520 Speaker 1: when Faraday did an experiment that produced liquefied chlorine. It 387 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:50,639 Speaker 1: was an experiment that Davy had suggested he do, but 388 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:54,080 Speaker 1: producing liquid chlorine was not part of the expected outcome. 389 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:58,440 Speaker 1: Davy thought Faraday should have credited him when he reported 390 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:03,119 Speaker 1: the results of this experiment. Faraday did not. Then, in 391 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:06,359 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty three, Faraday applied to be a fellow of 392 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:09,880 Speaker 1: the Royal Society, so taken on his owns, probably would 393 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:12,560 Speaker 1: not have been very controversial. Like we said, he had 394 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:16,800 Speaker 1: developed his own reputation by this point, but there had 395 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:21,400 Speaker 1: been so much nepotism in the Royal Society under Joseph Banks. 396 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,360 Speaker 1: Davey felt like if he supported Faraday's application, it would 397 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:28,080 Speaker 1: look like he was just doing the same thing, so 398 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:34,920 Speaker 1: he told Faraday to withdraw his application. Faraday refused, and 399 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:39,240 Speaker 1: ultimately did become a Royal Society fellow. A number of 400 00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:41,680 Speaker 1: sources that I read when I was working on this 401 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 1: episode characterized Davy's behavior here as really arrogant and petty, 402 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:49,400 Speaker 1: and suggest that he was suffering from kind of an 403 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:54,640 Speaker 1: overinflated ego after his earlier years of such tremendous success. 404 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:59,120 Speaker 1: My first thought is, okay, just recuse yourself from that process, dude. 405 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:03,040 Speaker 1: I don't know what the bylaws were like, but it 406 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:06,399 Speaker 1: does seem like there would have been other options. Yeah. Uh. 407 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:10,480 Speaker 1: Davy also had some setbacks in his professional work. In 408 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:12,840 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty three, he was asked to find a solution 409 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 1: for the corrosion that was degrading the copper sheeting used 410 00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:19,080 Speaker 1: on the hulls of warships. This was part of an 411 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:21,960 Speaker 1: effort to scale back on naval spending, since at that 412 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:26,000 Speaker 1: point Britain wasn't at war with another maritime power. Britain 413 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:28,760 Speaker 1: was at war with the Ashanti Empire, but that did 414 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:32,399 Speaker 1: not involve ships beyond transporting troops to what is now Ghana. 415 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,760 Speaker 1: Davy's solution was based on the idea of cathodic protection. 416 00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:40,119 Speaker 1: Soldering another type of metal to the copper gave it 417 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:44,120 Speaker 1: a negative electrical charge which stopped the corrosion, and after 418 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:46,920 Speaker 1: testing this in a lab, Davy had Faraday try this 419 00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:51,439 Speaker 1: on three ships in a dockyard, and that seemed to work. However, 420 00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:54,640 Speaker 1: it turned out that the copper was what had been 421 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:59,480 Speaker 1: keeping barnacles and other sea life from adhering to the hulls, 422 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:04,359 Speaker 1: and this solution prevented that from happening. It had been 423 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:07,200 Speaker 1: sort of leeching stuff into the water that was keeping 424 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:11,760 Speaker 1: the barnacles from making their homes on the hull of 425 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:15,320 Speaker 1: the ship. So instead of hulls that were covered and 426 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:19,320 Speaker 1: corroded copper that needed to be replaced, the hulls were 427 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 1: instead covered in copper that was covered in barnacles, and 428 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:28,680 Speaker 1: eventually enough barnacles would affect the ship's performance. This is 429 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:33,960 Speaker 1: another moment that some sources interpret as coming from arrogance, 430 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:37,560 Speaker 1: because those miners' lamps had worked in the field the 431 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:40,679 Speaker 1: same as they had in the lab. And Davy seems 432 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:43,320 Speaker 1: to have just assumed that the same would be true 433 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 1: of the ship protectors. In eighteen twenty four, Davey founded 434 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:50,520 Speaker 1: the s and Am Club along with Secretary of the 435 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:54,040 Speaker 1: Admiralty John Wilson, in part to try to cut down 436 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:56,280 Speaker 1: on some of the divisions that were plaguing the Royal 437 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,840 Speaker 1: Society by giving people who had ties to the Admiralty 438 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:04,119 Speaker 1: another outlet. Davy served as the club's first chair and 439 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:08,440 Speaker 1: Faraday was its first secretary. Two years later, Davy and 440 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:12,480 Speaker 1: Stamford Raffles founded the Zoological Society of London, which helps 441 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:15,440 Speaker 1: at the stage for the establishment of the London Zoo. 442 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,879 Speaker 1: In September of eighteen twenty six, Davey's mother died, and 443 00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:23,560 Speaker 1: he attributed some of his own increasing health problems to 444 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:27,920 Speaker 1: her passing. He was reelected as President of the Royal 445 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:30,640 Speaker 1: Society in November of that year, but at that point 446 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:34,720 Speaker 1: he was obviously unwell. A month later, he had a 447 00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:38,200 Speaker 1: stroke at the age of forty eight, while his father 448 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:41,000 Speaker 1: also died at a really young age. There is some 449 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:46,120 Speaker 1: speculation that Davy's years of self experimentation may have been 450 00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:50,520 Speaker 1: a factor in this early shift in his health. Humphrey's 451 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:53,240 Speaker 1: brother John took him to Italy to try to recover, 452 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:56,560 Speaker 1: and although his condition did improve, he wrote to his 453 00:28:56,720 --> 00:28:59,240 Speaker 1: wife and to Davy's Gilbert to say he planned to 454 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 1: resign as pre president of the Royal Society. He did 455 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:06,040 Speaker 1: resign on November sixth, eighteen twenty seven, and he was 456 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:09,440 Speaker 1: replaced by Davies Gilbert. He also worked on a book 457 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:15,080 Speaker 1: on phishing called Salmonia or Days of fly Fishing. Humphrey 458 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 1: asked his wife to come join him in Italy, but 459 00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 1: she couldn't, so he returned to England for a time 460 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 1: before heading back to the continent, this time accompanied by 461 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:28,120 Speaker 1: a medical student named James Tobin. It occurs to me 462 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:30,840 Speaker 1: I should have looked up whether Tobin was related to 463 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:35,560 Speaker 1: his godfather. I don't actually know. Maybe Tobin took dictation 464 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:38,560 Speaker 1: for another book of Davies, and that was a set 465 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:43,320 Speaker 1: of memoirs and dialogues called Consolations in Travel or The 466 00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:47,480 Speaker 1: Last Days of a Philosopher, and that was published posthumously. 467 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:52,000 Speaker 1: Humphrey had another stroke in February of eighteen twenty nine, 468 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:55,640 Speaker 1: and his wife and brother were sent for Humphrey Davy 469 00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:58,440 Speaker 1: died on May twenty eighth, eighteen twenty nine, at the 470 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:02,160 Speaker 1: age of fifty in Geneva, Switzerland. He had a fear 471 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:04,440 Speaker 1: of being buried alive, and he had asked for his 472 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:07,840 Speaker 1: burial to be delayed to make sure he really was deceased, 473 00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:10,640 Speaker 1: but the laws in Geneva did not allow for that 474 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:14,400 Speaker 1: to happen. He was buried in Geneva, and his wife Jane, 475 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:18,880 Speaker 1: later had a memorial tablet placed in Westminster Abbey. Davy 476 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:22,440 Speaker 1: had been incredibly well known and well respected during his lifetime. 477 00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:24,400 Speaker 1: I mean we talked about him discovering a bunch of 478 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:29,440 Speaker 1: different elements and inventing the miner's safety lamp, although there 479 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:31,600 Speaker 1: were other people who did the same, but he was 480 00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:37,000 Speaker 1: soon really overshadowed by Michael Faraday. Sometimes Faraday is described 481 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:42,120 Speaker 1: as Davy's greatest discovery. As a side note, when Faraday 482 00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:44,800 Speaker 1: was offered the presidency of the Royal Society on two 483 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:48,720 Speaker 1: different occasions, he said no thanks. There is some presumption 484 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:52,360 Speaker 1: that his experience watching Davy go through that made him like, 485 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:56,480 Speaker 1: I don't want any part of that. Hard pass. Also, 486 00:30:57,120 --> 00:30:59,640 Speaker 1: in two thousand and eight, after the Royal Society of 487 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:02,680 Speaker 1: Chemist asked for help in finding the medal that had 488 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:06,080 Speaker 1: been awarded to him by the French. Family members reported 489 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:09,200 Speaker 1: that at some point after Humphrey's death, Jane threw that 490 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:13,880 Speaker 1: French medal right into the sea. She said that it 491 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:17,320 Speaker 1: brought up bad memories. He didn't like France. Let's get 492 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:24,200 Speaker 1: rid of him. That was the worst trip of our lives. Yeah, anyway, 493 00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:27,440 Speaker 1: Humphrey Davies kind of a journey. That's where I have 494 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:32,440 Speaker 1: landed after all of this. We'll talk about him some 495 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:36,360 Speaker 1: more on Friday and the behind the scenes. I have 496 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:40,600 Speaker 1: an email from Phil Phil Route and said, I just 497 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,280 Speaker 1: listened to your show on etiquette. It took me back 498 00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:46,160 Speaker 1: to memories of my childhood. We had a family friend 499 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:48,760 Speaker 1: that was a socialite. We would often see her picture 500 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:51,560 Speaker 1: in the society section of the paper. She was often 501 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:55,280 Speaker 1: attending the best events throughout town, charities and other big events. 502 00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:58,160 Speaker 1: She would often try to teach us proper etiquette. I 503 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:00,440 Speaker 1: have a feeling she wasn't sure we were getting proper 504 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:03,520 Speaker 1: education in these areas from our parents. I grew up 505 00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:06,320 Speaker 1: in a family of four boys. So she gave us 506 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:08,920 Speaker 1: a gift one year. The gift was a book published 507 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:12,800 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty nine, Stand Up, Shake hands, and say, 508 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,800 Speaker 1: how do you do. I remember looking through it as 509 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:18,920 Speaker 1: a kid, but the sections on attending someone's debutante ball 510 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:20,560 Speaker 1: not sure if that's what they were called in the 511 00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:24,200 Speaker 1: book seemed so foreign to me. A few years ago, 512 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:26,560 Speaker 1: we were cleaning out my mom's stuff after she'd died. 513 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:29,760 Speaker 1: My brothers and I had a great weekend of telling stories. 514 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:32,200 Speaker 1: As we went through all of the items and divided them, 515 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:35,600 Speaker 1: we came across this book. My brothers are all a 516 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:38,120 Speaker 1: few years older than I am. They told stories about 517 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:40,600 Speaker 1: how strange the book was to them when they got it, 518 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:43,040 Speaker 1: and the only thing they really used it for was 519 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:46,160 Speaker 1: to learn how to tie a tie. I felt better 520 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:48,400 Speaker 1: about my thoughts about the book because that was the 521 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:50,680 Speaker 1: only thing I used it for as well. My dad 522 00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:52,440 Speaker 1: moved out of our house when I was about nine, 523 00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:55,320 Speaker 1: so I didn't have that around teach me that. I 524 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:57,920 Speaker 1: always thought the book was a little pretentious and stuffy 525 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:01,200 Speaker 1: for our lifestyle, but it brought great memories of our 526 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:03,680 Speaker 1: dear family. Friend. What of my brothers has the book 527 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:05,400 Speaker 1: at his house, so I can't refer back to it 528 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:08,040 Speaker 1: or confirm exactly what is in the book. Your podcast 529 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:11,160 Speaker 1: stirred that memory for me. Thanks for your show. I 530 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:14,040 Speaker 1: am including a picture of Willow, our saint shepherd. She 531 00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:17,400 Speaker 1: is a goofy dog, but we love her. Phil. Thank 532 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:20,240 Speaker 1: you so much, Phil for this email. I love this 533 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:23,640 Speaker 1: whole story. I did you. I think that's a great 534 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:25,600 Speaker 1: use for that book. It gave you one life skill. 535 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:27,000 Speaker 1: That's all you need out of a book for it 536 00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:31,920 Speaker 1: to be valuable. Yeah, and also reminds me a little 537 00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:34,560 Speaker 1: bit of my spouse, who's not the youngest but is 538 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:38,400 Speaker 1: also one of four boys who lost his dad at 539 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:42,200 Speaker 1: a young age, so also raised by a mom. And 540 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:46,320 Speaker 1: I'm like, did they have any etiquette books to try 541 00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:48,200 Speaker 1: to teach them things at their house? Most of the 542 00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:53,040 Speaker 1: stories I hear about their growing up involve my spouse 543 00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:59,480 Speaker 1: being put into dangerous situations by his older brother. Oh yeah. Also, 544 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,080 Speaker 1: will Hell is such a sweet looking talk I mean, 545 00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:07,440 Speaker 1: and is cute standing in some snow. Cuteness cuteness beyond 546 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,120 Speaker 1: all reckoning. Yes, So, thank you so much Phil for 547 00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:11,960 Speaker 1: this email. If you'd like to send us a note, 548 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:16,880 Speaker 1: we're at History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com and uh 549 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:20,120 Speaker 1: you can subscribe to the show wherever you'd like to 550 00:34:20,160 --> 00:34:23,759 Speaker 1: get podcasts, including the iHeartRadio app, any number of other 551 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:27,759 Speaker 1: podcast apps, and on Friday, we'll talk about our own 552 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:36,640 Speaker 1: behind the scenes thoughts on this episode. Stuff You Missed 553 00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:39,799 Speaker 1: in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more 554 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:44,239 Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 555 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:46,200 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.