In the 1700’s many scientists were making new discoveries. Humphry Davy was among these scientists. Many argue of what his most famous contribution to science is, simply because there are so many, but many intellectuals state that his greatest contribution to the field of Chemistry was his insight to the questions of the world. It is because of this curiosity and insight that Davy was able to discover different elements, and create so many beneficial inventions.
Humphry Davy was born to parents Joseph Davy, and Grace Millet on December 17th, 1778. His father, Joseph Davy, despite being well off due to the inheritance he had received after the death of his father, pursued his apprenticeship of wood carving for amusement more than necessity.…show more content… At first, Davy was simply an assistant in the lectures, but because of the shrinking audience was promoted. After seven years of working for the institution, he said, “I’ve done your work for the last seven years, now I’m going to do own work.” And that is what he did. An institution that was once headed by Isaac Newton himself asked Davy to Lecture to the Royal Society, who was the most scientific intellectuals in the world. His goal for this lecture was to find an undiscovered element in what is called Caustic Potash. When the lecture was only a month away Davy still had nothing. In previous experiments, he had mixed the potash with water, and used dried potash, which both resulted in the splitting of the water elements. Finally, after only moistening the potash, he observed a vivid reaction. It included a vibrant fizz and produced small globules that had a metallic luster similar to that of mercury. Some of these globules exploded and gave off a bright flame. Humphry Davy had just discovered Potassium. Using the same method, Davy revealed Sodium. Davy went on four years later to discover and isolate four more elements; Barium, Calcium, Magnesium, and Strontium. (Out,