![]() The art of reasoning is nothing more than a language well arranged.' 1 Lavoisier's understanding is that science and language are intricately entwined, 'we cannot improve the language of any science without at the same time improving the science itself.' 1 'In correcting their language they reason better.'Ĭhemistry had stayed the same from Aristotle to Lavoisier. In the preface, he quotes Abbé de Condillac, 'We think only through the medium of words. That same concept is found in the Elements of Chemistry. ![]() The definitions of words must be understood to have a 'reasonable' discussion. The paramount importance of defining words simply and concisely is what philosophers have strived for throughout history. I read part one for the Great Books of the Western World reading project. And that I am wholly unqualified to rate this book. In the end, I took away that 18th century chemistry was pretty punk rock. That kind of makes him the Tesla of chemistry too. The second-half describes his experiments and the tools he devised to make them happen. His new nomenclature for elements seemed like it makes him the Carl Linnaeaus of chemistry. The first half of the book is dedicated to classifying elements. He dedicated a lot of intellectual energy to understanding how things burned. He separated and named “oxygen” and was critical of the idea of phlogiston. ![]() 434.Ĭhemistry seemed a bit cooler in the 1700s.īut his proclivity toward combustion may have just been the natural reaction of his studies. I have not, however, despaired of making the attempt. Near the end of the book, he talks about his plans for a jar of alcohol: The jar A in which the combustion is performed is near 1400 cubical inches in dimension and, were an explosion to take place in such a vessel, its consequences would be very terrible, and very difficult to guard against. And when he wrote this he planned to blow more stuff up. More than once he describes how a jar filled with some flammable content burst from which he and “members of the Academy” narrowly escaped harm. Lavoisier's work was recognized as an International Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society, Académie des sciences de L'institut de France and the Société Chimique de France in 1999. Overall, his contributions are considered the most important in advancing chemistry to the level reached in physics and mathematics during the 18th century. He also introduced the possibility of allotropy in chemical elements when he discovered that diamond is a crystalline form of carbon. Lavoisier also contributed to early ideas on composition and chemical changes by stating the radical theory, believing that radicals, which function as a single group in a chemical process, combine with oxygen in reactions. Lavoisier also early researched in physical chemistry and thermodynamics in joint experiments with Pierre-Simon Laplace. Joseph-Louis Lagrange expressed importance of Lavoisier to science and, lamenting the beheading, said: " Il ne leur a fallu qu’un moment pour faire tomber cette tête, et cent années peut-être ne suffiront pas pour en reproduire une semblable." ("It took them only an instant to cut off this head, and one hundred years might not suffice to reproduce its like.") At the height of the French revolution, Jean-Paul Marat accused him of selling adulterated tobacco and other crimes, and a year fater death of Marat, people eventually guillotined Lavoisier. ![]() All of these political and economic activities enabled him to fund his scientific research. Lavoisier, an administrator of the Ferme Générale, served as a powerful member of a number of other aristocratic councils. He discovered always the same mass of matter, which nevertheless may change its form or shape. He predicted the existence of silicon in 1787. ![]() Lavoisier helped to construct the metric system, wrote the first extensive list of elements, and helped to reform. He recognized and named oxygen in 1778 and hydrogen in 1783 and opposed the theory. He also first established sulfur as an element in 1777 rather than a compound. People most note Lavoisier for his discovery. People widely consider him the "father of modern chemistry." This central nobleman to the 18th century largely influenced on the history of biology. French chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier isolated the major components of air, determined the role of oxygen in combustion to disprove the phlogiston theory, and devised a system of chemical nomenclature during the Reign of Terror, the period from 1793 to 1794 of the French revolution, the hands of a small group temporarily suspended the republican government, concentrated power, and executed him and thousands of other suspected counterrevolutionaries. ![]()
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