Humphry Davy its potential anaesthetic properties in relieving pain during surgery. Berzelius called Davy's 1806 Bakerian Lecture "On Some Chemical Agencies of Electricity" "one of the best memoirs which has ever enriched the theory of chemistry." Davy was a baronet, President of the Royal Society (PRS), Member of the Royal Irish Academy (MRIA), and Fellow of the Geological Society (FGS). He also invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He joked that his assistant Michael Faraday was his greatest discovery. Davy was born in Penzance, Cornwall in England on 17 December 1778. Davy's brother, John Davy, writes
Robin Batterham expressed over Dr. Batterham's dual roles, and a Senate committee found that there was a conflict of interest between the two, recommending that the Chief Scientist position be made full-time. In May 2005, Batterham stepped down as Chief Scientist and took on a full-time position at Rio Tinto. From May 2004 to May 2005, Batterham was President of the Institution of Chemical Engineers. He was appointed an International Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2004. He was appointed a Fellow (FTSE) of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) in 1988, and served as its President