I know what you are thinking…”Oh, Humphry!”????
But take a look at this hottie.
Even in black and white his eyes leap out at you. And his curls are positively Corinthian!
More importantly, he was an inventor (and was a awarded a baronetcy in 1819) who invented a lamp which allowed miners to see in gaseous spaces, discovered alkali and alkaline earth metals, and helped to discover chlorine and iodine.
Hubba hubba.
Surely there is nothing sexier than a cleft in the chin and a brilliant brain. **Sigh**
Knighted in 1812, he was popular at lectures always bringing a crowd to see his experiments with gases. Apparently addicted to nitrous oxide (laughing gas), he damaged his eyesight in one experiment with nitrogen trichloride. Said to be of irritable and sanguine temper, he was always enthusiastic about his chemistry and credited with being an imaginative thinker who also dabbled in poetry. Carelessly unpolished when it came to etiquette, his frank manner often led him into treacherous social paths.
Here are some fantastic quotes from Mister Sex Symbol himself:
“The most important of my discoveries has been suggested to me by my failures.”
“Language is not only the vehicle of thought, it is a great and efficient instrument in thinking.”
“Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles and kindness, and small obligations given habitually, are what preserve the heart and secure comfort.”
“I have learned more from my mistakes than from my successes.”
“The wealth and prosperity of the country are only the comeliness of the body, the fullness of the flesh and fat; but the spirit is independent of them; it requires only muscle, bone and nerve for the true exercise of its functions. We cannot lose our liberty, because we cannot cease to think.“
well hel-LO Baron Humphry! i would take a Corinthian like him over a fop any day!