Lavoisier, Antoine

1. A French scientist of the eighteenth century, Lavoisier was one of the founders of modern chemistry. He discovered the role of oxygen in chemical reactions.

He was beheaded during the French Revolution. The presiding judge at his trial is supposed to have remarked, “The Republic has no need of scientists.”

Example Sentences

Lavoisier, Antoine L., born at Paris, 79; confutes idea of transmutation, 81; paper on calcination of tin, 84; meets Priestley, 61, 85; his theory of combustion, 51, 86; his chemical nomenclature, 96; he is guillotined, 99; resumé of his work, 103; his views on salts, 183, 184.

From Project Gutenberg