The Electrochemical Theory of Sir Humphry Davy

Le résumé fourni par la source

In the two previous papers of this series 1 some consideration was given to the electrochemical theory held by Sir Humphry Davy and, in particular, to his views on the voltaic pile, electrolysis and chemical change. The discussion has been based entirely upon printed sources, and attention has been paid only to the ideas that Davy chose to publish in the literature or to deliver as lectures at the Royal Institution and the Royal Society. These are all available in his collected Works . 2 It is, of course, true that the inner workings of a man’s mind are not likely to be revealed very accurately by what he sees fit to print, and this is particularly true of Davy whose speculations tended to proliferate faster than he cared to admit publicly. Consequently, there may be a disparity between Davy’s private conclusions and his more tentative public announcements. Nevertheless, a man’s place in the development of any corpus of ideas is largely determined ( a ) by what he says in public (especially if this is well reported afterwards), and ( b ) by what he writes for publication. His influence is conveyed chiefly through these media, although this is not to deny the importance of personal contacts and correspondence. 3 It is for this reason that the present account has so far been confined to printed sources. 4

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.