James Baquet

    There are those who claim that French chemist Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) was not really deserving of the title “Father of Modern Chemistry” because it was Lavoisier himself whose self-promotion led to this perception. He was, in fact, as dependent on the discoveries of other chemists as any other.

    However, he is remembered for being one of those who changed chemistry from a qualitative science to a quantitative one — that is, he emphasized the importance of numeric measurement over the mere observation of effects. He named the elements oxygen and hydrogen (what would H2O be without him?) and discovered the importance of oxygen in combustion.

    Prior to Lavoisier, the prevailing theory was that flammable substances contained a material called phlogiston, now known to be wholly imaginary. This “phlogiston theory” held that when things burned (or rusted), the phlogiston was released into the atmosphere. Non-flammable materials were low in phlogiston.

    Lavoisier proved that it was oxygen combining with flammable materials that caused burning. Phlogiston was an idea, never an observed substance, though before it was discredited phlogiston was identified by some scientists to be hydrogen, again erroneously.

    Lavoisier also contributed to the creation of the metric system of measurements. He predicted the existence of some elements, confirmed that sulfur was an element, not a compound, discovered that when matter changes form, its mass stays the same and helped firm up the system of naming chemicals.

    Aside from his scientific activities, Lavoisier was an aristocrat at a time of political instability in France. During the French Revolution, he was convicted of crimes against the people and beheaded on a guillotine. A year and a half after his death, he was exonerated and restored to an honorable place in French society.

    Vocabulary

    Which word above means:

    1. widely held, more popular than others

    2. able to burn (the opposite-sounding “inflammable” actually means the same thing)

    3. found guilty, given a sentence

    4. a device created to quickly and accurately cut off one’s head, considered more humane than an axe

    5. “boosting” one’s reputation through one’s own efforts

    6. cleared, found “not guilty”

    7. lack of steadiness

    8. by mistake

    9. a system of measurements based on the number 10

    10. member of the nobility