Antoine Lavoisier

Empirical evidence on this point varies in reliability and is difficult to evaluate.[1]. Mencius spoke frequently and highly of the well-field system. Standard biographies have never mentioned the incident, and some biologists have expressed skepticism that it would be possible. In contrast to the sayings of Confucius which are short and self-contained, the Mencius consists of long dialogues, with extensive prose. The story may be apocryphal. The Mencius (also spelled Mengzi or Meng-tzu), a book of his conversations with kings of the time, is one of the four books that form the core of orthodox Confucian thinking. Supposedly, Lavoisier decided to blink as many times as possible, and had an assistant count the blinks, which numbered between 15 and 20. Mencius' interpretation of Confucianism has generally been considered the orthodox version by subsequent Chinese philosophers, especially the Neo-Confucians of the Song dynasty.

A story relates how Lavoisier arranged a final experiment at his death intended to determine whether and for how long a severed head remains conscious after decapitation. Mencius argued that human beings are born with an innate moral sense which society has corrupted, and that the goal of moral cultivation is to return to one's innate morality. Lavoisier's real memorial is chemistry itself. He even argued that it was acceptable for people to overthrow or even kill a ruler who ignored the people's needs and ruled harshly. The statue was melted down during the Second World War and has never been replaced. A follower of Confucianism, Mencius argued for the infinite goodness of the individual, believing that it was society's influence – its lack of a positive cultivating influence – which caused bad character. Lack of money prevented alterations being made and, in any case, the French argued pragmatically that all men in wigs looked alike anyway. Disappointed at his failure to effect changes in his contemporary world, he retired from public life.

It was later discovered that the sculptor had not actually copied Lavoisier's head for the statue, but used a spare head of the Marquis de Condorcet, the Secretary of the Academy of Sciences during Lavoisier's last years. He expressed his filial devotion when he took an absence of three years from his official duties for Qi to mourn his mother's death. About a century after his death, a statue of Lavoisier was erected in Paris. He served as an official during the Warring States Period (403–221 BCE) in the State of Qi (齊 qì) from 319 to 312 BCE. When his private belongings were delivered to his widow, a brief note was included reading "To the widow of Lavoisier, who was falsely convicted.". Like Confucius, according to legend, he travelled China for forty years to offer advice to rulers for reform. One and a half years following his death, Lavoisier was exonerated by the French government. He was an itinerant Chinese philosopher and sage, and one of the principal interpreters of Confucianism.

An appeal to spare his life was cut short by the judge: "The Republic has no need of geniuses [or, alternately, "scientists."]." His importance for science was expressed by the mathematician Joseph Louis Lagrange who lamented the beheading by saying: "It took them only an instant to cut off that head, but France may not produce another like it in a century.". Mencius (most accepted dates: 372–289 BCE; other possible dates: 385–BC/302 BCE), also known by his birth name Meng Ke or Ko, was born in the State of Zou (鄒國), now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng (邹城市), Shandong province, only thirty kilometres (eighteen miles) south of Qufu, Confucius' birthplace. One of his actions that may have sealed his fate was a contretemps a few years earlier with the young Jean-Paul Marat, who subsequently became a leading revolutionary. Ironically, Lavoisier was one of the few liberals in his position. As one of 28 French tax collectors and a powerful figure in the unpopular Ferme Générale, Lavoisier was branded a traitor during the Reign of Terror by revolutionists in 1794, and tried, convicted and guillotined all on one day in Paris, at the age of 51.

While in government work, he helped develop the metric system to secure uniformity of weights and measures throughout France. He did become interested in French politics, and as a result, he obtained a position as tax collector in the Ferme Générale, a tax farming company, at the age of 26, where he attempted to introduce reforms in the French monetary and taxation system. He received a law degree and was admitted to the bar, but never practiced as a lawyer. Of key significance in Lavoisier's life was his study of law.

His contributions are considered the most important in advancing the science of chemistry to the level of what had been achieved in physics and mathematics. For the first time the modern notion of elements is laid out systematically; the three or four elements of classical chemistry gave way to the modern system, and Lavoisier worked out reactions in chemical equations that respect the conservation of mass (see, for example, the nitrogen cycle). He established the consistent use of chemical balance, used oxygen to overthrow the phlogiston theory, and developed a new system of chemical nomenclature which held that oxygen was an essential constituent of all acids (which later turned out to be erroneous). Lavoisier's fundamental contributions to chemistry were a result of a conscious effort to fit all experiments into the framework of a single theory.

While many leading chemists of the time refused to believe Lavoisier's new revelations, the Elementary Treatise was written well enough to convince the younger generation. His list, however, also included light and caloric, which he believed to be material substances. It also forms the basis for the modern list of elements. In addition, it contained a list of elements, or substances that could not be broken down further, which included oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, phosphorus, mercury, zinc, and sulphur.

Also, Lavoisier clarified the concept of an element as a simple substance that could not be broken down by any known method of chemical analysis, and he devised a theory of the formation of chemical compounds from elements. His Traité Élémentaire de Chimie (Elementary Treatise of Chemistry, 1789, translated into English by Robert Kerr) is considered to be the first modern chemical textbook, and presented a unified view of new theories of chemistry, contained a clear statement of the Law of Conservation of Mass, and denied the existence of phlogiston. Their system facilitated communication of discoveries between chemists of different backgrounds and is still largely in use today, including names such as sulfuric acid, sulfates, and sulfites. He described it in Méthode de nomenclature chimique (Method of Chemical Nomenclature, 1787).

With the French chemists Claude-Louis Berthollet, Antoine Fourcroy and Guyton de Morveau, Lavoisier devised a chemical nomenclature, or a system of names describing the structure of chemical compounds. He discovered the components of water were oxygen and hydrogen, and that air was a mixture of gases - primarily nitrogen and oxygen. Lavoisier also investigated the composition of water and air, which at the time were considered elements. These experiments provided evidence for the law of the conservation of matter.

Nevertheless, the weight gained was lost from the air. He burnt phosphorus and sulfur in air, and proved that the products weighed more than the original. He showed that, although matter changes its state in a chemical reaction, the quantity of matter is the same at the end as at the beginning of every chemical reaction. Lavoisier's experiments were among the first truly quantitative chemical experiments ever performed; that is, he carefully weighed the reactants and products involved, a crucial step in the advancement of chemistry.

In Reflexions sur le Phlogistique, 1783, Lavoisier showed the phlogiston theory to be inconsistent. In 1779, he named this part of the air oxygen (Greek for acid-former), and the other azote (Greek for no life). In Sur la combustion en general (On Combustion in general), 1777 and Considérations Générales sur la Nature des Acides (General Consideration on the Nature of Acids), 1778), he demonstrated that the "air" responsible for combustion was also the source of acidity. This tendency to use the results of others without acknowledgment, then draw conclusions is said to be characteristic of Lavoisier.

However, he tried to take credit for Priestley's discoveries. Lavoisier's work was partly based on the work of Priestley (he corresponded with Priestley and fellow members of the Lunar Society). He also discovered that the inflammable air of Henry Cavendish which he termed hydrogen (Greek for water-former), combined with oxygen to produce a dew, as Joseph Priestley had reported, which appeared to be water. Lavoisier's explanation of combustion replaced the phlogiston theory, which postulates that materials release a substance called phlogiston when they burn.

He also demonstrated the role of oxygen in metal rusting, as well as its role in animal and plant respiration: working with Pierre-Simon Laplace, Lavoisier conducted experiments that showed that respiration was essentially a slow combustion of organic material using inhaled oxygen. Through these experiments, he demonstrated that burning is a process that involves the combination of a substance with oxygen. Some of Lavoisier's most important experiments examined the nature of combustion, or burning. Beginning in 1775, he served in the Royal Gunpowder Administration, where his work led to improvements in the production of gunpowder and the use of agricultural chemistry by designing a new method for preparing saltpeter.

In 1771, he married 13-year-old Marie-Anne Pierette Paulze, who translated from English for him, illustrated his books, and assisted him in his research. In 1769 he worked on the first geological map of France. He was elected a member of the French Academy of Sciences in 1768 for an essay on street lighting. In 1767 he worked on a geological survey of Alsace-Lorraine.

His first chemical publication appeared in 1764. He attended the College Mazarin from 1754 to 1761, studying chemistry, botany, astronomy, and mathematics. Born to a wealthy family in Paris, Antoine Laurent Lavoisier inherited a large fortune when his mother died. .

Due to his prominence in the pre-revolutionary government in France, he was beheaded at the height of the French Revolution. He was also an investor and administrator of the Ferme Générale, a private tax collection company; chairman of the board of the Discount Bank (later the Banque de France); and a powerful member of a number of other aristocratic administrative councils. Lavoisier is often referred to as the father of modern chemistry. He stated the first version of the Law of Conservation of Matter, recognized and named oxygen (1778), disproved the phlogiston theory, and helped to reform chemical nomenclature.

Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier (August 26, 1743 – May 8, 1794) was a French nobleman prominent in the histories of chemistry, finance, biology, and economics. , 1982. "The Chemist Who Lost His Head: The Story of Antoine Lavoisier.", Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc. Grey, Vivian.

Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, & Pyrotechnics by Jack Kelly - The history of the explosive that changed the world (Basic Books, 2004 - 0-465-03718-6). Hundred Greatest Men, 1885 www.lib.utexas.edu. Antoine Lavoisier, Elements of Chemistry, Dover Publications Inc., New York, NY,1965, 511 pages. Reprinted Bruxelles: Cultures et Civilisations, 1965.

Traité élémentaire de chimie, présenté dans un ordre nouveau et d'après les découvertes modernes, 2 vols. Paris: Chez Cuchet, 1789. Lavoisier, A. Donovan, Arthur, "Antoine Lavoisier: Science, Administration, and Revolution.", Cambridge University Press, 1993. Lavoisier, théoricien et expérimentateur. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1955.

Daumas, M. La révolution chimique: Lavoisier. Paris: Alcan, 1890. Berthelot, M.