New Lancaster project seeks volunteers for transcribing
A project geared towards shedding new light on Sir Humphry Davy, a significant and famous figure in the scientific and literary culture of the early 19th century, has been launched by Lancaster University and the Royal Institution of Great Britain.
Researchers in the Department of English Literature and Creative Writing would like volunteers to help them to transcribe and digitally preserve five of Davy’s manuscript notebooks, dating from 1795 to 1805.
Professor Sharon Ruston and Dr Andrew Lacey from Lancaster University launched the ‘Davy Notebooks Project’, funded by the Arts and Humanities Council, online in mid-July.
Davy’s many and varied scientific accomplishments included conducting pioneering research into the physiological effects of nitrous oxide (often called ‘laughing gas’).
But Davy (1778-1829) was also a poet, moving in the same literary circles as Lord Byron and William Wordsworth.
The Davy Notebooks Project has just launched at https://www.zooniverse.org.
Simply create a Zooniverse account, read the introductory materials, and begin transcribing.
Volunteers can transcribe as much or as little as they like – even just a page or two.
Send any questions to [email protected].