Arguably the first celebrity scientist, and the epitome of the 'Romantic' natural philosopher, Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829) was a brilliant lecturer whose popularising of science made him famous. He pioneered electrochemistry, befriended the Romantic poets, invented a safety lamp for miners and even wrote on angling (see On the Safety Lamp and Salmonia, also reissued in this series). Described as 'the last words of a dying Plato', Consolations in Travel was published posthumously in 1830. It is an intriguing mixture of ...
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Arguably the first celebrity scientist, and the epitome of the 'Romantic' natural philosopher, Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829) was a brilliant lecturer whose popularising of science made him famous. He pioneered electrochemistry, befriended the Romantic poets, invented a safety lamp for miners and even wrote on angling (see On the Safety Lamp and Salmonia, also reissued in this series). Described as 'the last words of a dying Plato', Consolations in Travel was published posthumously in 1830. It is an intriguing mixture of poetry, autobiographical sketches, descriptions of dreams, philosophical musings on the afterlife and, in the view of one contemporary review, 'some [matter] which sober reason must dissent as extravagant, and almost bordering on the absurd'. Here, in his final months, Davy turns to the eternal, believing that through science all the questions of the universe could be answered. It remains a poignant and controversial postscript to an illustrious life.
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Add this copy of Consolations in Travel: Or, The Last Days of a to cart. $42.44, new condition, Sold by Booksplease rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Southport, MERSEYSIDE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2013 by Cambridge University Press.
Add this copy of Consolations in Travel: Or, The Last Days of a to cart. $53.27, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2013 by Cambridge University Press.
