Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1051

ANTOINE LAURENT LAVOISIER (1743-1794) Traité élémentaire de chimie, présenté dans un order nouveau et d'après les découvertes modernes. Cuchet 1789 Vol. I: xliv, 322 pp.; Vol. II: viii [323]-654 pp., 13 fold. plates. 20.2 cm.

A man of wide and varied interests, Lavoisier is generally regarded as the founder of modern chemistry. His discoveries and observations concerning the role of oxygen in combustion and respiration led to the downfall of the generally accepted phlogiston theory and the designation of a new chemical nomenclature. His later studies in respiration measurement laid the foundations for the study of human metabolism. In Traité élémentaire de chimie, Lavoisier gave a description of his new nomenclature and set out the lines along which he felt chemistry would have to develop in the future. The thirteen folding plates were drawn by his wife who assisted him in much of his work. Despite Lavoisier's active attempts at prison reform and other humanitarian concerns, his position as tax collector led to his conviction and death by guillotine shortly after the French Revolution.

Cited references: Cushing L91; Osler 1207 (1793 ed.); Waller 11177; Wellcome III, p. 460

Gift of John Martin, M.D.