Lavoisier: Life, Contributions, and the French Revolution - Research Paper Example

?Antoine Lavoisier-Life, Contributions, and the French Revolution Antoine Laurent Lavoisier is the founder of one of the most important components ofour planet, and he is also responsible for making it synonymous to water. He also made the discovery of the most imperative element, which was named as ‘Oxygen’ in the year of 1778. During the year of 1777, he formulated ‘Sulfur’ as an element, rather than a combination of different elements. Since he contributed significantly to the changes in the nomenclature system of chemical elements, he is renowned all over the world as the ‘father of modern chemistry.’ He was born in an affluent family in Paris on 26th August in the year of 1743. He studied at College Mazarin from 1754 to 1761, where he was taught several subjects, such as Botany, Mathematics, Chemistry and Astronomy. In 1771, when he was 28 years old, he married Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze, when she was barely 13 years old. Marie-Anne also took a fancy to chemistry and assisted her husband in translating crucial English documents in French. Furthermore, she came out with a biography of Antoine Laurent Lavoisier by the name ‘Lavoisier’s memoirs’. Lavoisier’s father bought a title for him in 1772, and consequently he came into membership with a privately owned company called the Farmer’s General that collected taxes from the royal government. Subsequently, his wealth and influence amplified considerably. Since he was a member of the Gun Powder Commission, he resided in the Paris Arsenal where he built a private laboratory to investigate and analyze the results of chemical experiments which had been performed by others, and also to carry out his own. During the year 1791, he was appointed as a Secretary of the Treasury (Scott, 2). Antoine not only came with the discovery and naming of oxygen. He also established the procedure of rusting and asserted the significance of oxygen for the survival of animals and plants by ascertaining its role in respiration. He was also one of the first people who performed some complex chemical experiments, which gave rise to stoichiometry. Furthermore, he also founded the law of conservation of mass and, with the assistance of his chemical experiments, he managed to determine that animals made use of oxygen as a respiratory gas and this gas exchange was a process, which was used to create heat, and it was also very similar to the process of burning of a candle. Other than his role as a physicist, botanist and chemist, Lavoisier also achieved a law degree, but he never practiced law formally in his life. He was a prominent member of the Ferme Generale, and was also one of the 28th tax collectors of France. During the French Revolution, he was exposed to the ire of the French revolutionaries. Being a liberal, he had to undergo major opposition from Jean-Paul Marat who supported revolutionaries. When the French Revolution was at its peak, Jean Paul Marat pressed treason accusations against Lavoisier for selling watered-down tobacco and several other crimes. During the year 1794, the period of the “Reign of Terror’, Antoine provided help to some foreign scientists and mathematicians, for example, Joseph Lagrange, under treason (New Advent, 1). The judge presiding over the case of Lavoisier rejected the appeal to forgive Lavoisir’s life and to let him go on with his unfinished work. He said, “The Republic needs neither scientists nor chemists; the course of justice cannot be delayed.” Consequently, on 8th May, 1794 when Lavoisier was 50 years old, he was guillotined in Paris. Lavoisier’s contribution to the inception of advanced chemistry was primarily concentrated in the field of theory. He added extensions, summarized and confirmed the theories and discoveries of several of his contemporaries in England and the European Continent, particularly Henry Cavendish (1731-1810), Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) and Joseph Black (1728-1799). The consequence was that there was a new and more profound understanding of chemical processes that created the basis for the further advancement of chemistry as a modern science. He made the discovery that oxygen plays a very imperative role in combustion, i.e. burning and also founded a theory that provided an explanation for the process of combustion, the oxidation of metals and reactions of chemical substances with oxygen gas. Furthermore, this theory disregarded the phlogiston theory, which had been a major obstacle in the path of scientific progress. Even though Lavoisier was not the pioneer of quantitative methods in the study of chemical processes, his support and usage of them were very important in developing chemistry as a quantitative science. Lavoisier and Pierre Simon also employed the use of a calorimeter to measure heat and specific reactions to heat, which was a very crucial step in forming thermochemistry. Furthermore, he was one of the first people to know that substances can survive in three forms i.e. solid, liquid and gas. He also played a very crucial role in developing the metric system and reforming the nomenclature of different types of chemical substances, which are in use today in very much the similar form. The new system of nomenclature works quite differently, in which the particular name of a substance indicates the elements which it is made of. Even though he was brilliant at his work and made a whole lot of contributions to chemistry, Lavoisier was not perfect. He kept engaging into conflicts in which he asserted to be the first in making several discoveries, but in actuality his claims had no solid ground or basis. He would very often use the work of other scientists without giving them their due credit. It is speculated that his work would have been better, had he decided to work with other contemporaries with appreciation and cooperation. Antoine is infamously known as the ‘many-sided genius’ and also considered to be the founder of modern chemistry. Even though he has been quite controversial, modern scientists do give him credit for his work, which formed the edifice upon which modern science is resting. When Lavoisier started to work in chemistry, it could not be regarded as a separate scientific discipline. Even though there was a plethora of empirical information, there wasn’t a divergent scientific discipline, neither any theoretical backing. Furthermore, it also did not have any formal language of its own. Even though the characteristics of salt, acids, metals and alkalis were well-known, the gases were not known to exist. The concept of modern chemistry only came into being, when Lavoisier with the assistance of other chemists came up with his theory of combustion. When he explained the role of oxygen in combustion, Lavoisier disregarded the phlogiston theory. Needless to say, his theory reformed the whole field of chemistry. He identified the role of oxygen in both plants and animals. Furthermore, he also showed the similarities between combustion and respiration and praised the use of more advanced measurements in chemistry. In order to carry out measurements properly, Lavoisier constructed balances which had very high precision. He also determined the composition of water and several other organic compounds. Lavoisier’s other significant contribution was that he clearly distinguished between elements and compounds. This as mentioned earlier gave rise to the law of conservation of mass, which postulated that matter cannot be created or destroyed when chemical changes occur. He laid the groundwork for comprehending chemical changes, which are a mixture of various substances. Lavoisier also produced a lot of work on physiology and anatomy. Lavoisier’s contributions and achievements in history only comprised of one of his many activities. It should not be ignored that he had so many public duties and responsibilities that he could hardly take out time for scientific investigations. There were several administrative functions that Lavoisier used to perform in the Royal Academy of Sciences. Other than that, there were also some transitions that he made in the production and manufacture of gun powder. He wrote many imperative research papers on economics. When he served as a member of the Temporary Commission of Weights and Measurements for the years 1791-93, he played a very crucial role in regulating the metric system. There were a lot of contributions that he made to agriculture, and also highlighted the benefits of scientific farming in a model farm near Blois. During the year 1785 Lavoisier was made the secretary of the Government’s committee on agriculture. He made several reports, in which he provided instructions for the cultivation of crops. Not only that, he also did the propaganda of schemes for agricultural purposes. Lavoisier was made a part of a committee that dealt with the social infrastructure of France and therefore, he formulated various schemes that aimed at improving education, saving schemes, equal taxation, insurance, old age and various other welfare schemes. Lavoisier was also in a committee that had the task of investigating the conditions of the prisons and hospitals of Paris, and then providing solutions, if they were in a sorry state. He developed a scheme, which aimed to improve and augment the supply of water to Paris and another scheme which purified water. When the Revolution occurred, he formed a report on the financial situation of France. He also gave interest-free money to towns such as Romorantin and Blois for the purchase of barley, when the famine took the towns by storm in 1778. In political terms, Lavoisier was a major liberal. He knew that there was great urgency for revolution in France, and he strived for reformation, but he was greatly against revolutionary methods. Lavoisier did receive his share of criticism. Justus Von Liebig, who was a great German chemist, was frequently quoted, saying that Lavoisier did not make the discovery of any new property, body or phenomenon which was not previously known to the world. His only glory is that he instilled a new vitality in the body of science. And he achieved what he did because he wasn’t working independently, but had the support of France’s Royal Academy of Sciences, where the world’s most impressive scientists are present in superfluity. In his widely discussed and read book, “The Structure of Scientific Revolution”, Kuhn gave the reference of Lavoisier’s contributions in chemistry, which had managed to pioneer many scientific revolutions and paradigm shifts. Although, there are some people who agree with Kuhn, there are others who contradict this notion greatly and cannot fathom how Lavoisier’s chemistry aided Kuhn’s theory. Even when Lavoisier came up with the combustion theory, the chemists took a very long time in disregarding the phlogiston theory in order to declare their support for Lavoisier’s theory. It was not an unexpected change (Donovan, 1). Works Cited “Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier”. newadvent.org. New Advent. 2009.Web. 19 Dec. 2011 Scott, Michon. “Antoine Lavoisier”. Strangescience.net. Strangescience. 29 April. 2011.Web. 19th Dec. 2011 Donovan, L. Arthur. “Antoine Laurent Lavoisier”. britannica.com. Britannica. 8 Aug. 2011. Web. 19th Dec. 2011 Read More