The British chemist Sir Humphry Davy (born 1778) liked dangerous experiments. He was fired from his job as an apothecary for causing constant explosions. Later, as a chemist, he enjoyed inhaling the gases he worked with. This helped him discover that nitrous oxide (laughing gas) was a potent anaesthetic. “Unfortunately,” notes a short guide to his career from Oxford University Press, “the same habit led him to nearly kill himself on many occasions and the frequent poisonings left him an invalid for the last two decades of his life.” It was probably worth it: Davy isolated substances including calcium and strontium, identified the element iodine and made the first electric light.
英国化学家汉弗莱•戴维爵士（Sir Humphry Davy，出生于1778年）喜欢危险的实验。由于老是引起爆炸，他在担任药剂师时被解雇了。后来，作为化学家，他很喜欢吸入自己在工作中产生的气体。他也因此发现，一氧化二氮（笑气）是一种效果强大的麻醉药。“遗憾的是，”牛津大学出版社(Oxford University Press)关于戴维爵士生平的简介中写道，“同样的习惯导致他有很多次差点儿害死自己，经常中毒让在他生命中的最后20年里成了个病患。”这个代价很可能是值得付出的：戴维分离出了钙和锶等物质，发现碘元素，并制造出了第一个电灯。