Frank James showcases' Humphry Davy's experimental development of his miners' safety lamp, that saved thousands of lives. Watch our short film about the Davy lamp: https://youtu.be/rhavaxv3a40 Watch the Q&A here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i22r058GC0 One of the last acts of Tsar Alexander I before his death in 1825 was to give Humphry Davy a silver-gilt cup — the Davy cup. It was a token of gratitude for Davy’s invention of the miners’ safety lamp ten years before. With appropriately explosive demonstrations, Frank James showcases Davy’s experimental development of his lamp while reflecting on the relationship between science and the state symbolised by the Davy cup, a treasure from the Ri's Faraday Museum. Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and Tumblr: http://ri-science.tumblr.com/ Our editorial policy: http://www.rigb.org/home/editorial-policy Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter