He was a British chemist, who studied gases at the Pneumatic Institute in Bristol, where he discovered the anesthetic properties of dinitrogen oxide (nitrous oxide). He moved to the Royal Institution, London in 1801 and five years later isolated potassium and sodium by electrolysis.

He also prepared barium, boron, calcium, and strontium as well as proving that chlorine and iodine are elements. In 1816 he invented the Davy lamp.