In this essay I argue that Humphry Davy uses the figure of Proteus to illustrate his conception of a world in a state of perpetual change. Over the past four years, 11 417 pages of Davy's notebooks have been transcribed by more than 3500 volunteers from around the world. These have revealed the extent of Davy's poetic output and confirmed his world view that matter is constantly being made, unmade, and made again in new forms. For Davy, atoms are drawn dynamically towards and away from each other, forging new entities through the power of heat, cold, and other chemical interventions. Here, I look at specific instances where Davy's poetry and science are in close proximity to each other, on the same notebook page or in the same notebook, paying attention to Davy's interest in the so-called ‘proteus' fish, which was thought to be able to adapt to life on land or sea at will. Davy saw the mythological figure Proteus as a symbol for chemical change and for the changes that all matter goes through. I will also use this trope to discuss the development of Davy’s ideas from notebook to lecture and published page.

在这篇文章中，我认为汉弗莱·戴维（Humphry Davy）使用普罗透斯（Proteus）的形象来说明他对一个处于永久变化状态的世界的概念。在过去的四年里，来自世界各地的 3500 多名志愿者抄录了戴维笔记本的 11,417 页。这些揭示了戴维诗歌创作的程度，并证实了他的世界观，即物质不断地以新的形式被创造、毁灭和再次创造。对于戴维来说，原子动态地相互靠近和远离，通过热、冷和其他化学干预的力量形成新的实体。在这里，我看一下戴维的诗歌和科学彼此接近的具体实例，在同一笔记本页面或同一笔记本中，关注戴维对所谓的“变形鱼”的兴趣，这种鱼被认为是能够随意适应陆地或海上的生活。戴维将神话人物普罗透斯视为化学变化和所有物质所经历的变化的象征。我还将使用这个比喻来讨论戴维的思想从笔记本到讲座和出版页面的发展。