Lavoisier

[ la-vwa-zyey ]

/ la vwaˈzyeɪ /

noun

An·toine Lau·rent

[ahn-twan loh-rahn] /ɑ̃ˈtwan loʊˈrɑ̃/, 1743–94, French scientist: pioneer in the field of chemistry.

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Examples from the Web for lavoisier

As for her father, he lived to marry a second widow, the brilliant and distinguished woman who had been the wife of Lavoisier.
The Galaxy, April, 1877|Various
Lavoisier had ascribed this heat to the oxidation of the food.
Fragments of science, V. 1-2|John Tyndall
An income of six thousand a year out of her own property was secured to Madame Lavoisier.
The Royal Institution|Bence Jones
Lavoisier had given it, indeed, the name oxygen (acid-producer) on that supposition.
An Introduction to the History of Science|Walter Libby

Two years later, at the age of thirty-five, Lavoisier was admitted a member of the Academy.
A History of Science, Volume 4(of 5)|Henry Smith Williams

British Dictionary definitions for lavoisier

Lavoisier

/ (French lavwazje) /

noun

Antoine Laurent (ɑ̃twan lɔrɑ̃). 1743–94, French chemist; one of the founders of modern chemistry. He disproved the phlogiston theory, named oxygen, and discovered its importance in respiration and combustion

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Science definitions for lavoisier

Lavoisier

[ lä-vwä-zyā′ ]

Antoine Laurent 1743-1794

See Notes at oxygen Priestley.

French chemist who is regarded as one of the founders of modern chemistry. In 1778 he discovered that air consists of a mixture of two gases, which he called oxygen and nitrogen. Lavoisier also discovered the law of conservation of mass and devised the modern method of naming chemical compounds. His wife Marie (1758-1836) assisted him with his laboratory work and translated a number of important chemistry texts.

Biography

Antoine Lavoisier's superior organizational skills made it possible for him to interpret and extend the research of other scientists, leading to the important experiments and discoveries that designate him as one of the founders of modern chemistry. He introduced a rigorous experimental approach to the field based on the determination of the weights of reagents and products in chemical reactions. In his Elementary Treatise of Chemistry, published in 1789, he presented a systematic and unified view of new theories and established a system of nomenclature for chemical compounds. His classification of substances laid the foundation for the modern distinction between chemicals and compounds. Lavoisier also disproved the longstanding phlogiston theory of combustion, which for centuries held that a substance called phlogiston, a volatile part of all combustible substances, was released during the process of combustion. By repeating the experiments of Joseph Priestley, Lavoisier demonstrated that during combustion the burning substance combines with a constituent of the air, the gas he named oxygen. He also described the role of oxygen in the respiration of both animals and plants, and he proved that water is made up of oxygen and hydrogen.