Antoine Lavoisier
Science, Administration and Revolution

Comprehensive account illuminating Lavoisier's role in the rise of modern chemistry and the French Revolution.

Arthur Donovan (Author), David Knight (Preface by)

9780521566728, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 11 April 1996

368 pages, 9 b/w illus.
22.8 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm, 0.554 kg

'A vivid impression of experiments in progress is recorded in excellent engravings by Lavoisier's wife Marie Anne Paulze …'. Andrew Prentice, Biologist

This biography represents a comprehensive, accessible account of the great eighteenth-century French chemist and administrator, Antoine Lavoisier. Historians of science know Lavoisier as a founder of modern chemistry. Students of the French Revolution know him as an important financier and administrator in the final decades of the old regime and as the most famous scientist to be guillotined during the Terror. This volume devotes equal attention to the creation of his oxygen theory of combustion and to his efforts as a public administrator before and during the Revolution. Lavoisier was an historical figure of extraordinary importance. His biography illuminates the rise of modern science and the history of the French Revolution. Antoine Lavoisier provides its reader with a vivid, informed image of the man, his achievement, and the tumultuous age in which he lived.

List of illustrations
General editor's preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I. Ambition and Public Service: 1743–1775: 1. The barristers of Paris
2. The republic of science
3. Experimental physics
4. The chemistry of salts
5. The company of tax farmers
Part II. Consolidation and Contestation: 6. A new theory of combustion
7. The campaign for French chemistry
8. Gunpowder and agriculture. 9. Mesmerism and public opinion
Part III. Revolutionary Politics: 10. Representation, legislation and finance
11. The republic of virtue
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Biography: historical, political & military [BGH]