Great scientists（Period 1　Welcome to the Unit ）

davy published details of his research in his book researches, chemical and philosophical (1799).this led to davy being appointed as a lecturer at the royal institution.he was a talented teacher and his lectures attracted large audiences.��in 1806 davy published on some chemical agencies of electricity. the following year he discovered that the alkalis and alkaline earths are compound substances formed by oxygen united with metallic bases.he also used electrolysis to discover new metals such as potassium, sodium, barium, strontium, calcium and magnesium.��davy was now considered to be britain’s leading scientist and in 1812 was knighted by george ⅲ.with his assistant, michael faraday, davy travelled abroad investigating his theory of volcanic action.��in 1815 humphry davy invented a safety lamp for use in gassy coalmines, allowing deep coal seams to be mined despite the presence of firedamp (methane).this led to some controversy as george stephenson, working in a colliery near newcastle, also produced a safety lamp that year.both men claimed that they were first to come up with this invention.��one of davy’s most important contributions to history was that he encourage manufacturers to take a scientific approach to production.his discoveries in chemistry helped to improve several industries including agriculture, mining and tanning.sir humphry davy died in 1829.4.leonardo da vinci(b.1452, vinci, republic of florence [now in italy]—d.may 2, 1519, cloux, fr.), italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the renaissance humanist ideal.his last suppe (1495-1497) and mona lisa (1503-1506) are among the most widely popular and influential paintings of the renaissance.his notebooks reveal a spirit of scientific inquiry and a mechanical inventiveness that were centuries ahead of his time.��5.madam curie is a french professor of physics.she was born in poland in 1867.in 1891 she went to study in paris university because at that time women were not admitted to universities in poland.when she was studying in paris, she lived a poor life, but she worked very hard.in 1895 she married pierre curie, and then they worked together on the research into radioactive matter.they discovered two kinds of radioactive matter—polonium and radium.in 1904 she and her husband were given the nobel prize for physics.in 1906 pierre died, but marie went on working.she received a second nobel prize for chemistry in 1911.so she became the first scientist in the world to win two nobel prizes.