definitions

Lavoisier, Antoine

[ (luhv-wah-zee-ay, lah-vwah-zyay) ]

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.

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Note

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.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.