History of chemistry iodine first, but both scientists acknowledged Courtois as the first to isolate the element. In 1815, Humphry Davy invented the Davy lamp, which allowed miners within coal mines to work safely in the presence of flammable gases. There had been many mining explosions caused by firedamp or methane often ignited by open flames of the lamps then used by miners. Davy conceived of using an iron gauze to enclose a lamp's flame, and so prevent the methane burning inside the lamp from passing out to the general atmosphere. Although the idea of the safety lamp had already been demonstrated by
Miners in the Sky Miners in the Sky Miners in The Sky is a 1967 Science Fiction novel by Murray Leinster. The rings around Thotmess, a gas giant in the system of the star Niletus where planets are called for Ancient Egyptian gods, is a completely lawless place. The only human inhabitants are rugged miners, riding small "donkey ships", who need to contend with both the harsh natural environment and fierce human competitors. "Claim jumping" is frequent and miners must be ready at any moment to take up a gun or a bazooka to defend their finds of "grey matrix in which abyssal crystals