Antoine Laurent Lavoisier
Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier was born on Aug. 26, 1743. He grew up the oldest child in his family in Paris, France, and a product of the bourgeoisie lifestyle. His father was a well-off attorney who followed the family tradition of practicing law. Antoine's mother died when he was just a boy, but his aunt came to help raise him and his younger siblings. Between 1754 and 1761, he was educated at the College Mazarin where he studied mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, and botany. From there, he was pushed into the field of law, and earned his degree. However, this career didn't interest him a great deal. He was more fascinated with sciences, especially, geology. Coming from his background, he had already gained entrance into the leading intellectual circles of the day and had been exposed to a great variety of scientific pursuits by the time he started his scientific career. A good friend of the family, Jean-Étienne Guettard, was a brilliant geologist and botanist, as well as being one of Lavoisier's main influences to join the study of science. Another great teacher of his was Guillaume Francois Rouelle, his chemistry teacher. Both of these men were members of the Academie Royale des Sciences, or Royal Academy of Science.
Lavoisier was appointed to the National Gunpowder Commission in 1775, so the couple took up residence in the Paris Arsenal. Using his investment earnings, Lavoisier set up a magnificent private laboratory-the best in Europe at that time. One of his most valuable pieces of equipment was a chemical balance that could weigh objects with great precision. Leading scientists from France met regularly at Lavoisier's laboratory, as well as world famous figures. In the book, he not only stated the law of conservation of mass, but also revived the definition of an element, which had been suggested earlier by English physicist and chemist Robert Boyle. Lavoisier also listed all substances thought to be elements at that time As an offshoot of his studies of combustion, Lavoisier began to explore the process of chemical respiration (the supplying oxygen to the cells and relieving them of carbon dioxide wastes). In 1783 he began a famous series of heat-measuring experiments in collaboration with the French mathematician Pierre-Simon de Laplace, using an ice calorimeter and a measuring technique invented by the latter. Their experiments showed that the heat produced by respiration of oxygen was approximately equal to the heat produced when the same amount of oxygen is used to burn charcoal. This supported the theory that respiration is slow combustion. They also used the calorimeter to determine the specific heats of substances and to measure the heat produced by chemical reactions. Lavoisier and Laplace also demonstrated that nitrogen plays no part in respiration; it is only the oxygen in the air that is needed to support animal life. Lavoisier's first essay was about the mineral gypsum and the settling process of plaster of paris. This experiment showed off one on his strengths as a chemist, accurate measurement. Although a few scientists had earlier paid careful attention to measurement, it was Lavoisier who convinced the majority of chemists that accurate measurements are essential to experimental success and scientific progress. In 1768, Lavoisier was elected to the Royal Academy of Science. The same year, he entered the Ferme Generale, a private firm that collected certain taxes for the government. At the time, scientists were not very well paid, so in order to afford his expensive equipment, Lavoisier was forced find other means to make up for his monetary deficiencies. In 1789, just two years after introducing the chemical classification system, Lavoisier published the first truly modern chemical textbook Traite elementaire de chimie Elementary Treatise on Chemistry). In the book,
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Approximate Word count = 1764
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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