Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Humphry Davy

Quote by Humphry Davy

Work

The Collected Works: Memoirs of the life of Sir Humphry Davy

This collection includes Davy's memoirs, scientific papers, and correspondence, offering a detailed look into his life and work in the field of chemistry. more

Author

Humphry Davy
Humphry Davy

Chemist, British scientist known for his contributions to electrochemistry. He discovered several elements, including sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and chlorine, and proposed the concept of electrolytic decomposition. more

You May Also Like

“In attempting to understand the elements out of which mental phenomena are compounded, it is of the greatest importance to remember that from the protozoa to man there is nowhere a very wide gap either in structure or in behaviour. From this fact it is a highly probable inference that there is also nowhere a very wide mental gap.”

“In the distant future I see open fields for far more important researches. Psychology will be based on a new foundation, that of the necessary acquirement of each mental power and capacity by gradation. Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history.”

“It has sometimes been said that the success of the Origin proved "that the subject was in the air," or "that men's minds were prepared for it." I do not think that this is strictly true, for I occasionally sounded not a few naturalists, and never happened to come across a single one who seemed to doubt about the permanence of species.”

“It strikes me as unfair, and even in bad taste, to select a few of them for boundless admiration, attributing superhuman powers of mind and character to them. This has been my fate, and the contrast between the popular estimate of my powers and achievements and the reality is simply grotesque.”