Antoine-Laurent De Lavoisier: Era Of The Chemical Revolution

Until the early nineteenth century, only a few tools existed to detect or extract a toxic substance from a corpse. As a result, many murderers walked away freely, and the number of deaths continued to rise. The chemical revolution of the 1800s changed the ease of such killings as scientists learned to isolate and identify the basic elements by gradually building a catalog known as the Periodic Table of Elements, but the very science that made it possible to identify the old poisons also made available a lethal array of new ones.

Oxygen is a highly reactive nonmetal element that is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas. It is the third most abundant element in the universe by mass, makes up 2/3 of the mass of a human body and about one-fifth of Earth’s atmosphere (Helmenstine, 2016). The discovery of this magnificence element can not credited to solely one individual. Both Joseph Priestley and Antoine Lavoisier should receive credit for proposing new ideology and experimental findings that lead to the discovery of oxygen.

The studies of chemistry and physics have shaped understanding of the world today. In fact, they have altered the mindset and reasoning of society, leading to an age in which discoveries are consistently being sought after and achieved. However, it must be noted that the origin for the basis of understanding used today in fields such as chemistry derived almost entirely from the scientists of the 1800’s. In this thorough and precise essay, the incubator for some of the world’s most innovative researchers and pioneers in chemistry and physics will be discussed – the Cavendish Laboratory.

Chemistry is used in everyday life even if we aren’t aware of it. Chemist are so important because they have discovered so many things that are so important to know. Everything humans do is chemistry like breathing, eating, or just being still. Without chemist we would have no understanding about a lot of things in the world. Louis Pasteur, a French chemist and microbiologist, was known for his discoveries of vaccinations, pasteurization, and microbial fermentation. He is recalled for the incredible breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases. These discoveries have saved numerous lives and will continue to save lives. Pasteur had a remarkable life, made many accomplishments, and also had some controversies; therefore, he is one of the most remembered chemist.

Robert Boyle made many significant contributions to a number of subjects, including chemistry, physics, the discovery of many different unknown properties of air, and making connections between science and his religious beliefs. Many of his discoveries and theories laid the beginning groundwork for a number of the modern sciences used today and added upon previous discoveries from before his time. He greatly impacted the world during the Scientific Revolution time period and his work during that time continues to leave a lasting impression still today. He went up against the accepted beliefs of the time period and disproved many of them in the process of experimentation. In fact, without Robert Boyle, alchemy would still be the main science

Giacomo Luigi Ciamician was a well-known professor, Italian senate member, and Italian chemist who made brilliant discoveries and has many accomplishments that have impacted the way chemistry is practiced today. Ciamician was one of the founders of photochemistry. He discovered and experimented with solar energy, which is one of his greatest achievements. He also made discoveries with the periodic table that provoked questions from other scientists, causing a chain reaction of scientific breakthroughs. While Ciamician’s many discoveries mostly relate to chemistry, they vary greatly in content, showing that he was an individual of both intelligence and curiosity.

Scientists are vital to the current state of the world. They make discoveries that contribute to the world of science that provide a base of knowledge for other scientists to develop and continue research for years and years to come. Some of the most important discoveries have been found in the field of chemistry, a fundamental branch of science that studies matter and all of its properties, composition, and activity along with organic and inorganic substances. Many scientists such as J.J. Thomson, Erwin Schrodinger, Arthur Holly Compton and Niels Bohr are crucial benefactors in chemistry. However, despite all the wonderful scientists that contributed research, Bohr discovered many important scientific discoveries that paved the way for future

One important contribution that Antoine Lavoisier made to chemistry was the conservation of mass. In France, the law of conservation of mass is commonly referred to as Lavoisier’s Law showing the lasting impression that he made on the world of chemistry (Donovan, 2017). The law, in its entirety, envelopes the ideas that matter can be transformed from one form to another, mixtures can be separated or developed, and pure substances can be broken down, but the mass will always remain constant (World of Chemicals, 2017). The law was first identified in the Traité élémentaire de Chimie, a book that incorporated the foundations of modern chemistry in 1789 (American Chemical Society, 1999). Originally, the law of conservation of mass was an assumption

Lavoisier disavowed the phlogiston theory and paradigm through his memoir, insisting that the phlogiston theory was unclear. Lavoisier describes the situation as he states in his Memoirs that “the majority of metallic calces are not to be reduced, that is, returned to the metallic state, without the immediate contact of a carbonaceous material or any substance whatsoever containing what we call phlogiston” and “therefore the fact that this fluid is obtained as fied air gives us no right to conclude that it existed in this form in the metallic calx before its combination with the carbon” (Lavoisier 164). Lavoisier declared that “in attacking here Stahl’s doctrine my object is not to substitute a rigorously demonstrated theory but solely a hypothesis which appears to me more probable, more comfortable to the laws of nature, and which appears to me to contain fewer forced explanations and fewer contradictions” (Lavoisier 173). He is declaring that his discovery of oxygen is more legitimate than Stahl’s (also the phlogiston paradigm) theory of phlogiston. Lavoisier grew support when he released his remarks opposing the phlogiston theory (Perrin 47). Furthermore, other experiments were conducted on the basis of the phlogiston theory, and complications arose from this. Experimenters were seeing that the theory had some complications when they conducted experiment, producing incompatible effects than the theory had suggested (Perrin). Also, the release of the Method of Chemical Nomenclature, released in 1787 by Lavoisier, Guyton de Morveau, Fourcroy & Berthollet, that allowed for Lavoisier’s scientific theories to be accepted and utilized

Robert Boyle was born to Richard Boyle and Catherine Fenton on January 25, 1627 in Lismore, Ireland. He was the youngest son of Richard Boyle, the Earl of Cork, and he was born into a noble family. His father was very rich and had an abundant amount of wealth due to his occupation of being a prestigious landowner. Additionally, his mother, Catherine Fenton, was also associated with a wealthy family English family. During his early childhood, Boyle was sent to live with a poor Irish family (Famous Scientists). Boyle’s father had a unique way to raise his children. He would send them to this family and he believed that through this experience they would toughen up and mature more efficiently. He also

He was so busy with his public duties that he could only spare one day a week for his individual scientific investigations. He published his first chemical publication in 1764. In 1766, the King awarded him a medal for an essay on the problems of urban street lighting. Laviosier became a part of the Royal Academy of Sciences at age 25, and was a member of the Temporary Commission on Weights and Measurements from 1791 to 1793. In 1785 he was appointed the secretary of the Government’s committee on agriculture. His contributions to agriculture include demonstrating advantages of scientific farming at a model farm near Blois. At age 26, he obtained a position as a tax collector in the Ferme Générale, in which he tried to reform the French monetary and tax systems to favor the peasants. Laviosier invested a lot of time in improving public education, old age insurance, saving banks, and other issues concerning the welfare of the

I chose Louis Pasteur as my chemist. Pasteur was born on December 27, 1822 and died on September 28, 1895. Louis was born in Dole, France. Louis Pasteur worked at the University of Strasbourg, and began to study about fermentation and he believed it was carried out by living microorganisms. Louis Pasteur suffered from a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. Louis also discovered his first vaccine for a disease called chicken cholera in 1879. Louis Pasteur discovered many things relating to chemistry, one being proving that various disease in the human body were caused by micro-organisms that multiply the body, another being; the discovery of the rabies vaccine. The last contribution that Louis Pasteur made in relation to chemistry was

“The art of reasoning is nothing more than a language well arranged” The end of Lavoisier’s opening quote by the Abbé de Condillac demonstrates the fundamental assumption of Lavoisier in creating his Elements of Chemistry. He is trying to create a nomenclature system for chemistry that will provide a framework for future chemists and keep chemistry firmly tied to nature, unlike previous chemists and natural philosophers who have assumed rather than discovered how nature functions. In creating this nomenclature, Lavoisier does various experiments and tries to keep assumptions out, basing every word on a fact that can be shown which, while possibly being the best way for a nomenclature system to be made, has a possible downfall of lack of flexibility

Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (lah vwah ZYAY) was one of the best-known French scientists and was an important government official. His theories of combustion, his development of a way to classify the elements and the first modern textbook of chemistry led to his being known as the father of modern chemistry. He contributed to much of the research in the field of chemistry. He is quoted for saying, "Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed." Lavoisier was born in Paris, France on Aug. 26, 1743. When he was eleven years old he attended a college called Mazain. For Lavoisier's last two years in college he found a great deal of interest in science. He received an excellent education and

In this period of time tons of civilizations tried to figure out the life of chemistry and how it worked. A basic chemical hypothesis first emerged in Classical Greece with the theory of four elements by Aristotle in 300 BC where fire, air, earth and water were the fundamental elements from which everything is formed as a combination.