There are lots of letters written by Davy in which he discusses the invention of his safety lamp with his friends. Davy knew about Stephenson\u2019s safety lamp. Davy thought that Stephenson had copied some of his ideas. Here are some of the things Davy said about Stephenson in his letters:<\/p>\n
\u2018I have seen a sketch of Stevensons lamp, but I do not think it safe\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0(letter from Davy to John Hodgson, 15 December 1815)<\/p>\n \u2018The idea of Stevensons first lamp or something very like it may be found in a little book published [\u2026] in June last i.e. June 1815\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0(letter from Davy to John Hodgson, 20 September 1816)<\/p>\n \u2018When [Sir Joseph Banks, a scientific friend of Davy\u2019s] saw me after Stevensons lamp had been announced in the papers he said \u201cHere is a fellow who has been stealing your lamp\u201d\u2019<\/strong> (letter from Davy to John Hodgson, 27 October 1816)<\/p>\n \u2018[Stephenson is] a thief & not a clever thief\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0(letter from Davy to John Hodgson, 8 Feb 1817)<\/p>\n \u2018Stevenson is so ignorant that I fear he may endanger the lives of the workmen\u2019<\/strong> (letter from Davy to John Buddle, the manager of Wallsend Colliery, 13 February 1817)<\/p>\n \u2018I have always considered [Stephenson] an illiterate pirate\u2019<\/strong> (letter from Davy to John Buddle, 10 November 1817)<\/p>\n There are not many letters written by Stephenson in which he discusses the invention of his safety lamp. Stephenson knew about Davy\u2019s safety lamp. Stephenson denied that he had copied any of Davy\u2019s ideas. Here are some the things Stephenson said about Davy in his letters:<\/p>\n \u2018When the description of Sir H. Davy’s first lamp was sent [\u2026] into this part of the country [\u2026] a gentleman present immediately exclaimed \u201cthat is the same as Stephenson’s!\u201d\u2019<\/strong> (letter from George Stephenson to the Newcastle Chronicle<\/em>, 8 February 1817)<\/p>\n \u2018My facts and dates are before the public\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0(letter from George Stephenson to the Newcastle Chronicle<\/em>, 8 February 1817)<\/p>\n Stephenson said that he did not have the money to buy \u2018many of those beautiful instruments\u2019<\/strong> that Davy used in his laboratory (letter from George Stephenson to the Newcastle Chronicle<\/em>, 8 February 1817)<\/p>\n Stephenson said that he had the idea for his safety lamp \u2018long before Sir H. Davy came into this part of the country\u2019<\/strong> (letter from George Stephenson to the Philosophical Magazine<\/em>, March 1817)<\/p>\n Stephenson said that he \u2018solemnly asserted\u2019<\/strong> that he did not know that Davy had had the same idea as him, and that he did not \u2018receive any hint of [Davy\u2019s] experiments\u2019<\/strong> (letter from George Stephenson to the Philosophical Magazine<\/em>, March 1817)<\/p>\n Davy and Stephenson disagreed on which one of them had invented the safety lamp first. The two men did not meet. They disagreed in their letters: some of these letters were sent to other people, and some were published in newspapers and magazines.<\/p>\n Click here to go to the next section<\/a><\/p>\n Click here for the worksheet for this section<\/a><\/p>\n Home<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are lots of letters written by Davy in which he discusses the invention of his safety lamp with his friends. Davy knew about Stephenson\u2019s safety lamp. Davy thought that Stephenson had copied some of his ideas. Here are some … Continue reading