Also known as:
French: Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier
LAVOISIER, LAURENT-ANTOINE. - Famous chemist, b. in Paris on 26 Aug. 1743, d. there on 8 May 1794. He was the first to explain the true function of oxygen, discovered by Priestley and by Scheele, as the essential element of respiration and combustion, thereby demolishing the erroneous theory of phlogiston, which had nevertheless contributed to the progress of science and had been accepted by the scientists of the time. He clarified the concept of the chemical element and proved experimentally the law of conservation of mass.
The discoveries and studies of L. are set forth in the Traité élémentaire de chimie (Paris 1789; 2nd ed. there 1793; 3rd ed. there 1937), collected in the Oeuvres complètes de L. A. L. in 6 large volumes edited by J.-B. Dumas (Paris 1857-96) and celebrated in the works devoted to L. by Grimaux, Dumas, Berthelot, Guareschi and in all treatises on the history of chemistry.
His scientific honesty, his private and public virtues and his feelings of humanity and charity (he, a « fermier général », that is, a tax farmer, supported exemption from taxes for the poor) were confirmed by the philosophical tranquillity and resignation with which he met the sentence inflicted on him as an enemy and starver of the people. Born into a religious family, he always maintained the convictions of a Catholic Christian.
Bibliography5 worksM. Berthelot, La révolution chimique et L., Paris 1890; E. Grimaux, L. d'après sa correspondance, ses manuscrits, there 1896; I. Guareschi,
BIBL.: M. Berthelot, La révolution chimique et L., Paris 1890; E. Grimaux, L. d'après sa correspondance, ses manuscrits, there 1896; I. Guareschi, Suppl. ann. all'Éuc. chim., XIX (1903), pp. 307-468; H. Metzger, Introduction à l'étude du rôle de L. dans l'histoire de la chimie, in Archivio di storia della scienza, 1932 (fasc. 1); M. Giua, Storia della chimica, Turin 1946, p. 75 SEE.
Provenzal, Giulio. “Lavoisier, laurent-antoine.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VII, col. 972. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951. https://azioneromana.com/article/lavoisier-laurent-antoine.
MLA
Provenzal, Giulio. “Lavoisier, laurent-antoine.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VII, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951, col. 972. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/lavoisier-laurent-antoine.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec7_lavoisier_laurent_antoine,
author = {Provenzal, Giulio},
title = {Lavoisier, laurent-antoine},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {VII},
pages = {972},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1951},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/lavoisier-laurent-antoine}
}
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