The star of the lecture circuit at the time was Sir Humphry Davy, who plucked Faraday from obscurity to work as his laboratory assistant.

ECONOMIST: Science

The Age of Wonder details the work of people like Joseph Banks, Humphry Davy and William Herschel who transformed the way we view the world.

BBC: Prize for wonder of science past

The Davy safety lamp on which the sculpture is modelled was devised in 1815 by Sir Humphry Davy after a group of Newcastle miners told him of the dangers they faced from methane gas.

BBC: Memorial unveiled to miners who died at Bilsthorpe pit