1 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:06,640 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Today we're gonna talk about explosives, or really 2 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:10,400 Speaker 1: an eighteenth century scientist known for his work with explosives, 3 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: which was Antoine Lavoisier and often called the father of 4 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: modern chemistry. Lavoisier's life was notable for his work actually 5 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:20,360 Speaker 1: across a variety of scientific disciplines. He didn't only focus 6 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:23,880 Speaker 1: on making things blow up. Uh and he you know, 7 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:25,959 Speaker 1: did all of this right in the middle of the 8 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:32,080 Speaker 1: French Revolution, which makes his life sort of notable. Welcome 9 00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: to Stuff you missed in history class from housetop Works 10 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:45,520 Speaker 1: dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 11 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. And the really interesting 12 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: thing about the subject of today's podcast is how many 13 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: labels he gets. So if you look up any biography 14 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: on him, the andro will absolutely include some combination of 15 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:03,960 Speaker 1: the words chemist, to biologist, geologist, physiologist, economist. He even 16 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: held a law degree, though he never practiced law. But 17 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 1: at the end of the day, this particular figure is 18 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: most often referred to as a father of modern chemistry. Uh. 19 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: And we referred to this person who is Antoinevoisier before 20 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:20,200 Speaker 1: during our episode on Sophie Blanchard and the Ballooning Craze. 21 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 1: But he definitely deserves his own podcast because he was 22 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: instrumental in transitioning the field of chemistry from one that 23 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 1: was still back in alchemical thinking, in the combination of 24 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:34,320 Speaker 1: science and magic and sort of experimenting in that arena, 25 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: to a much more serious and systematic way to analyze 26 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:40,760 Speaker 1: and understand the world around us. And while he made 27 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:46,039 Speaker 1: incredible contributions to science, his life also took some really 28 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: important political turns amid the turmoil of the French Revolution. 29 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 1: So he had a lot of influence in very many 30 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 1: different and seemingly disparate places throughout his life. Yeah. Well, 31 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 1: and I was startled to learn how many of the 32 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: basic things that I learned in science class came straight 33 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:10,800 Speaker 1: from him. He was really impactful on our modern lives, 34 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: whether we realize it or not. Yes. He was born 35 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: Antoine Laurent Lavassier on August forty three, and he was 36 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 1: born pretty well into privilege. His father, Jean Antoine Lavassier, 37 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,799 Speaker 1: was a wealthy Parisian lawyer, and his mother was from 38 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: a well to do family. When he was five, his 39 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 1: mother passed away and left him a huge inheritance yeah, 40 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:36,399 Speaker 1: and while his father had originally been from a town 41 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 1: roughly fifty miles northeast of Paris, and tir Laurent was 42 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 1: really born in a Parisian although he did often summer 43 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: in his father's hometown, which was Villiers Cotli and the 44 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 1: absence of his mother, Lavoisier's aunt, Constance became a significant 45 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: caregiver and influence on his life. The two of them 46 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 1: are said to have been extremely close, and he attended 47 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:02,239 Speaker 1: the College to Catherline. You'll sometimes see this referred to 48 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: as the College Mazeona, and while there he studied astronomy, mathematics, botany, geology, mineralogy, logic, chemistry, 49 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 1: and other disciplines under some of the most respected thinkers 50 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: of the day. He eventually focused his education on pursuing 51 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: a law degree, primarily to please his family by following 52 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: in his father's footsteps. He finished his law studies in 53 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: seventeen sixty three, and then he was licensed to practice 54 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: a year later. But he never really had a passion 55 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:32,839 Speaker 1: for law and he never practiced. Instead, he went right 56 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: back to his love of science, primarily chemistry and geology, 57 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,840 Speaker 1: and he published a paper in seventeen sixty five addressing 58 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 1: the problem of improving Parisian street lights. UH. Some of 59 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: his other earliest work, which he submitted to the Academy 60 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: of Sciences, was an analysis of gypsum and plaster of Paris. 61 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 1: And this early early work that he was doing is 62 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: still considered important work regarding the composition of cement. So 63 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: already we've established that he he his impact is still 64 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: felt very significantly today. Yeah. In seventeen sixty eight, while 65 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:09,520 Speaker 1: he was still only twenty five, Lavoisier was inducted into 66 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: the elite Academy of Sciences. This was a big year 67 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: for Lavoisier because he also bought an interest in La 68 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:20,479 Speaker 1: firon General. And La firm General was a private company 69 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:25,039 Speaker 1: that's the translates to farm General uh, and they actually 70 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:29,039 Speaker 1: collected taxes for the French sovereign. So they would go 71 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: out and do the tax collecting and make a profit 72 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:32,839 Speaker 1: off of it as they handed off the taxes to 73 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: the government. And so while his buy into this group 74 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: solidified his fiscal standing and it was really helping him, 75 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,800 Speaker 1: you know, fund his life and his experimentation, it made 76 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: him part of an organization that was not exactly popular 77 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:49,919 Speaker 1: with those not born into privilege, especially when you consider 78 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: the political climate in France at the time. Yeah, As 79 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:58,040 Speaker 1: is often the case with really predominant scientific thinkers, he 80 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: had a personality that you might call this stay inctive. 81 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: And Arthur Donovan's book Antoine Lavossier, Science, Administration and Revolution, 82 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,839 Speaker 1: the Legendary Scientist, is described as being something of an 83 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: obsessive Yeah. To illustrate this, Donovan tell stories about things 84 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:16,599 Speaker 1: Lavoisia did when he was very young and sort of 85 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:22,160 Speaker 1: starting out in his scientific um experimentation. And he talks 86 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 1: about him at nineteen doing this experiment where he wanted 87 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: to investigate the effects of diet on human health, and 88 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: as part of this experiment, he adopted a plan of 89 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 1: consuming nothing but milk. I like milk, but only milk 90 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:40,960 Speaker 1: is a little far. In a similar episode to study 91 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: illumination as part of work he was doing about street lamps, 92 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:47,160 Speaker 1: he proposed this plan to shut himself up in a 93 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:49,720 Speaker 1: dark room for six weeks straight so that he could 94 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: make himself intensely sensitive to different levels of light. There's 95 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: no evidence about whether he actually followed through on that one, 96 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: so yes, it's clear that, like many soroundbreakers throughout history, 97 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:05,120 Speaker 1: Lavoisier really did have this propensity for approaching problems and 98 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:11,599 Speaker 1: ideas with really extreme methodologies. On December sixteenth, seventeen seventy one, 99 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: a few years after his induction into the Academy of Sciences, 100 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 1: Lavoisier married Marie Anne Pierrette Paul's, who was only thirteen 101 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,040 Speaker 1: at the time. While such a young bride is an 102 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:27,239 Speaker 1: unsettling concept, particularly to modern ears, Marie Anne was really 103 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:31,040 Speaker 1: a very very smart woman and she became an important 104 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: collaborator to Lavoisier. By all accounts, it was quite a 105 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:38,040 Speaker 1: happy marriage and certainly I think more of an equal 106 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 1: set up than many marriages at the time. Marie Anne 107 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: actually learned English just so that she could translate scientific 108 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,919 Speaker 1: texts for her husband, and she also educated herself in 109 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:51,200 Speaker 1: art and engraving so she could illustrate his scientific papers. 110 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,680 Speaker 1: And she assisted in him in his experiments throughout the year, 111 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:58,520 Speaker 1: and she often took notes while he was working UM 112 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:01,160 Speaker 1: and he really depended on those oats as like the 113 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:04,919 Speaker 1: basis for his writings. So she was really important and 114 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: they really did seem to have um a really good 115 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: um marriage where they were collaborating all the time. In 116 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy five, he got an appointment to the Royal 117 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: Gunpowder and Salt Peter Administration, often referred to as just 118 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: the Gunpowder Administration. This branch of the government had been 119 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: established by Louis the sixteenth after he ascended the throne 120 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 1: in seventeen seventy four and came to realize that France 121 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 1: didn't really have in any kind of self sufficient sourcing 122 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:37,680 Speaker 1: for gunpowder. And so Lavoisier had been appointed because he 123 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 1: was a chemist, and he moved into the Paris Arsenal 124 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: and he set up a lab that was so well 125 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 1: appointed that throughout the years, I mean he had this 126 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,600 Speaker 1: lab for a couple of decades, many of Europe's finest 127 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: chemists and great thinkers were attracted to it. So it 128 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: kind of became this interesting little enclave where people could 129 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 1: go and experiment and think and trade ideas. Working in 130 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:00,200 Speaker 1: this then state of the art lab, Lavoisier was able 131 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:03,320 Speaker 1: to to advance the production of gunpowder to a point 132 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 1: where he was making much better quality product at a 133 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: very rapid pace, and he was able to refine the 134 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 1: composition of gunpowder by analyzing and regulating the purity of 135 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 1: its ingredients, those primary ingredients being sulfur, charcoal, and potassium 136 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: nitrate AK Saltpeter, and he also refined the granulation process. 137 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: But before we get into some other pretty big chemistry 138 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: breakthroughs that happened in Lavois's lab, let's take a moment 139 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: and talk about our sponsor. So back to the world 140 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:43,280 Speaker 1: of Lavoissier. He spent several hours every day, in one 141 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: full day every week in the lab, and he's said 142 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 1: to have treasured that one full day of research, which 143 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:53,679 Speaker 1: I can completely identify with. His wife is quoted as 144 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:56,959 Speaker 1: saying it was for him a day of happiness. Some 145 00:08:57,040 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 1: friends who shared his views and some young men proud 146 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:01,920 Speaker 1: to be it did to the honor of collaborating. His 147 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 1: experiments assembled in the morning, and the laboratory there they lunched, 148 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:08,440 Speaker 1: there they debated. It was there that you could have 149 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:12,040 Speaker 1: heard this man with his precise mind, his clear intelligence, 150 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:17,599 Speaker 1: his high genius, the loftiness of his philosophical principles illuminating 151 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 1: his conversation. Yes, so she again, it's kind of a 152 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:24,240 Speaker 1: nice um representation of their relationship that she really spoke 153 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,920 Speaker 1: very highly of him, uh, And she clearly admired his 154 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:29,720 Speaker 1: his work, in his mind and the way he worked. 155 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 1: And it's just nice that he had this magical day 156 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:34,840 Speaker 1: every week that he felt like was his best day. 157 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:38,760 Speaker 1: And through his rigorous experimentation there. Uh, one of the 158 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 1: big things that happened is that Lavoisier became convinced that 159 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:47,680 Speaker 1: mass is neither created nor destroyed during ordinary chemical reactions. Uh. 160 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:51,199 Speaker 1: This is big stuff. The massive substances produced by a 161 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: chemical reaction is equal to the mass of the reactants involved. 162 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 1: And I will not pretend to have a particularly gifted 163 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 1: chemistry mind, but most people will recognize this as what 164 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:06,280 Speaker 1: was eventually put forth by Lavoisier as the law of 165 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:14,560 Speaker 1: conservation of mass. Hugely important basic chemistry concept. Thank you, Lavoisier. Yeah. 166 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: This concept also led him to further examination of the 167 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: work of English natural philosopher Joseph Priestley. Marie Anne had 168 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 1: translated a whole lot of Priestly's work for Lavoisier, and 169 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:31,600 Speaker 1: Priestley had in seventeen seventy four heated red mercury oxide 170 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: to obtain a colorless gas which would cause a candle 171 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:37,560 Speaker 1: that was lighted in it to burn with quote a 172 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:41,560 Speaker 1: remarkably vigorous flame according to Priestley, and he referred to 173 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 1: this colorless gas as deflogisticated air. At the time, the 174 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:49,680 Speaker 1: prevailing belief in chemistry was that a substance called phlogistine 175 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:53,920 Speaker 1: was a volatile part of all combustible substances, and that 176 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:58,200 Speaker 1: it was released as flame during combustion. UH. Flogistin gets 177 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: its name from the Greek word for burn. Priestly thought 178 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:05,360 Speaker 1: that his pure air enhanced respiration and caused the more 179 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:09,040 Speaker 1: vigorous and longer lasting burn of candles because it was 180 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:12,360 Speaker 1: free of flogiston. We traveled to Paris to meet with 181 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 1: Lavosier and disgust these findings. But Lavoisier felt that the 182 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 1: flogist in theory, which had been around for more than 183 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: a hundred years at this point, was fundamentally flawed, and 184 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:25,880 Speaker 1: this was a very significant shake up in the scientific 185 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 1: community at the time. This is on par with someone 186 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:31,280 Speaker 1: today claiming that potassium is an illusion. I mean it's 187 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: It was really like, completely broke apart the fundamental base 188 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:40,280 Speaker 1: of how they approach chemistry. And when Lavoisier delved more 189 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: deeply into analysis of combustion, he was able to identify 190 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:46,800 Speaker 1: the same gas that Priestly had, which Priestly was calling 191 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:51,719 Speaker 1: his def logisticated air UH. Lavoisier eventually named it oxygen, 192 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:55,640 Speaker 1: and by weighing and analyzing the components of combustions, he 193 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:58,880 Speaker 1: came to the conclusion that flogiston was, as he had 194 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:03,000 Speaker 1: suspected already, not a thing, because it's just the math 195 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:07,560 Speaker 1: did not add up with his conservation of maths ideas right. 196 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:11,120 Speaker 1: He had come to the conclusion that air actually consisted 197 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:15,679 Speaker 1: of two components, one that combined with metal and supported respiration, 198 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,400 Speaker 1: and one that did not support either of these things. 199 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 1: In seventeen seventy seven, he officially put forth a new 200 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:25,840 Speaker 1: theory of combustion that left flogistin completely off the table. 201 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: And it's also during this time in his famous lab 202 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:32,400 Speaker 1: that Lovoisier built on the work of other scientists to 203 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:35,319 Speaker 1: isolate a name hydrogen. And that's the thing that got 204 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:39,240 Speaker 1: him mentioned in our ballooning episode. In seventeen eighty three, 205 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:42,719 Speaker 1: he was still embroiled in a constant, rigorous debate in 206 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 1: a scientific community over this anti flogist in stance. He 207 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 1: became really adamant that it was time to lead chemistry 208 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:53,120 Speaker 1: back to a stricter way of thinking, and he campaigned 209 00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 1: for a systematic analysis of chemistry and science that distinguished 210 00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:01,640 Speaker 1: true fact from assumption. His goal was quote to rid 211 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:05,079 Speaker 1: chemistry of every kind of impediment that delays its advance, 212 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 1: So scientific method being established extremely important, as we've discussed 213 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:17,160 Speaker 1: in several episodes. In sev seven, in collaboration with Louis 214 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 1: Bernard Guiton de Morveaux, Claude, Louis Bertroi, Atoine, Francois fuquax Uh, 215 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:28,840 Speaker 1: he set forth this proposed method in Nomen Simik, and 216 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: this is basically the early periodic table, and at this 217 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 1: point it only consisted of thirty three elements which were 218 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:38,560 Speaker 1: grouped as gases, metals, non metals, and earth's and this 219 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: was pretty groundbreaking, Like basically he was saying, if you 220 00:13:41,679 --> 00:13:43,360 Speaker 1: can break a thing down to a point where you 221 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 1: can't break it down any further, that's an element, and 222 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:48,199 Speaker 1: it's going on this list. That's the thing that we 223 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:52,960 Speaker 1: basically take for granted now in chemistry class UH. And 224 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:56,120 Speaker 1: then in seventeen eighty nine, so two years later, still 225 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:59,480 Speaker 1: working with a lot of these same collaborators, Lavoisier published 226 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 1: the Ite Elementarre Demi, which is basically the Elementary Treatise 227 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: of chemistry, and it's basically the text book that really 228 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:11,240 Speaker 1: set the stage and transitioned us to modern chemistry. Officially, 229 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 1: it included the periodic table. It included the law of 230 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:17,600 Speaker 1: conservation of mass, as well as many other concepts, and 231 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:20,520 Speaker 1: Lavoisie anticipated that it was really going to take quite 232 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:23,640 Speaker 1: some time for these new ideas to be accepted. But 233 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:26,680 Speaker 1: interestingly enough, it was really just a couple of years 234 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:29,040 Speaker 1: before the ideas that he and his colleagues had worked 235 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:31,600 Speaker 1: on were just sort of an accepted part of common 236 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 1: scientific practices. And I think it's probably because he was 237 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:39,880 Speaker 1: so strict in his scientific method that it was all 238 00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:42,440 Speaker 1: really well laid out and there wasn't a lot of like, well, 239 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:44,920 Speaker 1: we think it's like we tested this and tested this 240 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:48,320 Speaker 1: and tested this. Right. Even though he was always really 241 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:52,400 Speaker 1: busy in his lab, Lavoisier also worked as a civil servant. 242 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 1: In seven he was chosen as a member of the 243 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 1: Assembly of Orleans, and in this position he began to 244 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 1: drop a plan for improving community socio economic issues, and 245 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: this included the establishment of workhouses, canals, insurance societies, and 246 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:11,720 Speaker 1: savings banks. He was also asked to advise on issues 247 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:15,119 Speaker 1: such as sewers, the water supply, and developing a unified 248 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:18,800 Speaker 1: system of weights and measures also known now as the 249 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:23,720 Speaker 1: metric system. Yeah, he really Again, the checklist of things 250 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:26,040 Speaker 1: he contributed to our modern lives starts to get a 251 00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: little um mind blowing, because everything that he touched weets 252 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:40,960 Speaker 1: still are doing. But as the revelation stirred up around him, 253 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:43,720 Speaker 1: he really did seem to be genuinely interested in bettering 254 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 1: the situation of the lower classes. And this is something 255 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:48,480 Speaker 1: that's been debated throughout the years as to whether or 256 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:51,880 Speaker 1: not he was kind of a foolish, well off person 257 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:54,400 Speaker 1: or if he really was in touch with these ideas 258 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:58,120 Speaker 1: and and really had a keen understanding of what was 259 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:01,560 Speaker 1: going on. He said to have donated money of his 260 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,640 Speaker 1: own to the towns of Blois and Ramonte for the 261 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:08,440 Speaker 1: purchase of grains during the famine. But unfortunately he had 262 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 1: already made a pretty significant enemy uh in revolutionary Jean 263 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:16,560 Speaker 1: when he had belittle Mara's work in the sciences. I 264 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:20,360 Speaker 1: think people don't always remember that Mara worked in science 265 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:26,520 Speaker 1: as well as his uh sort of revolutionary status. Mara, 266 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:30,160 Speaker 1: in reference to his interactions with the Academy of Science, 267 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 1: referred at one point to quote the class of geometers 268 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:38,080 Speaker 1: and astronomers which has formed a terrible cabal against me. 269 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:41,600 Speaker 1: The vossier was among those he felt had a bias 270 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:45,080 Speaker 1: against him, And yeah, he kind of did seem to 271 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:47,600 Speaker 1: think that Marat was as Charlatan. Yeah, he didn't have 272 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:50,000 Speaker 1: high praise for him at all, So there there is 273 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:54,560 Speaker 1: merit to that idea. Uh. In seventy Lovoisier is quoted 274 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 1: as saying, the state of public affairs in France has 275 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:01,840 Speaker 1: temporarily retarded the progress of science and distracted scientists from 276 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:04,200 Speaker 1: the work that is most precious to them. The key 277 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:06,119 Speaker 1: seemed to be kind of irritated by all of the 278 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:08,720 Speaker 1: things that were going on and wished they could just 279 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:11,119 Speaker 1: go back to their labs and work on improving the 280 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:16,440 Speaker 1: world and analyzing it. In January of seventee, Jean Paul 281 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:20,879 Speaker 1: Marat began to loudly and publicly attack Lavoisier, and a 282 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:24,439 Speaker 1: pamphlet he wrote, I'd denounce you to the Coria Paus, 283 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:28,359 Speaker 1: the leader of the chorus of the Charlatan's master. Lavoisier, 284 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:31,639 Speaker 1: son of a land grabber, apprentice chemist, pupil of the 285 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:36,240 Speaker 1: Genevan stock jobber, Necker, a farmer, general commissioner for gunpowder 286 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:39,879 Speaker 1: and salt, Peter, director of the Discount Bank, Secretary to 287 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:43,720 Speaker 1: the King, member of the Academy of science, intimate of Voulivier, 288 00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:48,679 Speaker 1: unfaithful administrator of the Paris Food Commission, and the greatest 289 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 1: schemer of our times. Would you believe that this little 290 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:55,480 Speaker 1: gentleman who enjoys an income of forty thou livres and 291 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:59,240 Speaker 1: whose only claim to public recognition is that he imprisoned 292 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:01,919 Speaker 1: Paris by utting off the fresh air with a wall 293 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,719 Speaker 1: that cost the poor people thirty three million livre, is 294 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 1: that he moved gunpowder from the arsenal into the bast 295 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:12,280 Speaker 1: deal on the night of July twelfth and thirteen, is 296 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,800 Speaker 1: engaged in a devilish intrigue to get himself elected as 297 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:20,000 Speaker 1: administrator of the Department of Paris. Yeah. So basically Mura 298 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:22,719 Speaker 1: is saying like, oh, you claimed to be, you know, 299 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: trying to do all of this civil work. Yeah yeah, yeah, really, 300 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:28,400 Speaker 1: you just want more power and more money. Your hands 301 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:32,000 Speaker 1: are in everything that's super suspicious, and during what what 302 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:34,480 Speaker 1: came to be known as the Reign of Terror, arrest 303 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:37,320 Speaker 1: warrants were issued for all the stakeholders in the firm 304 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 1: General Um. Lavoisier was of course among those sought for arrest, 305 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:46,000 Speaker 1: and allegations against this group of men included embezzlement, of 306 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 1: government funds and cutting the tobacco with other substances in 307 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:54,240 Speaker 1: order to increase toll duty profits. On May eighth, seventeen 308 00:18:54,359 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: ninety four, a revolutionary tribunal tried Lavoisier and found him 309 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:02,280 Speaker 1: guilty and they can spiracy against the people of France. 310 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:06,200 Speaker 1: The famed chemist was sent to the guillotine that very day, 311 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:09,960 Speaker 1: as was his father in law, Jacques Paul's, leaving Marie 312 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:12,600 Speaker 1: Anne without a father or a husband. Yeah, he had 313 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: always had some business interests with her father. Uh And 314 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:19,040 Speaker 1: some historians have pointed to the fact that Jean Parmarra 315 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:23,880 Speaker 1: had been assassinated ten months prior to Lavoisier's beheading as 316 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:27,120 Speaker 1: evidence that Maras should really not be blamed for Lavoisier's death. 317 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:29,919 Speaker 1: But there are others that would counter that his anti 318 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,480 Speaker 1: Lavoisier rhetoric really took a toll on the man's public image. 319 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:36,720 Speaker 1: And this was certainly a time when smear campaigns and 320 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:40,800 Speaker 1: bad press, particularly in France, were coloring the reputations of 321 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:44,440 Speaker 1: people for very long periods of time. For example, let 322 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:47,600 Speaker 1: the meat cake came out of a cartoon that was 323 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 1: running at the time, and how long have people still 324 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:54,359 Speaker 1: believed that ranch when it said that eighteen months after 325 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:58,960 Speaker 1: his beheading, Lavoisier was exonerated. Yeah, once things had calmed 326 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 1: down a little bit and there was a more in 327 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,000 Speaker 1: depth analysis of everything that had happened, it became clear 328 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:10,320 Speaker 1: that really he was not this evil weasel that they 329 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:12,760 Speaker 1: had made him out to be. Unfortunately, if they had 330 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:15,480 Speaker 1: thought of that eighteen months prior, think of all the 331 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:20,400 Speaker 1: other chemistry stuff, we would have uh. However, on June eighth, 332 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:27,399 Speaker 1: the American Chemical Society and that society Falsese Deshimi, dedicated 333 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:32,080 Speaker 1: an international Historical chemical Landmark to Lavoisier in Paris. As 334 00:20:32,119 --> 00:20:35,480 Speaker 1: an additional note, Lavoisier has also had a rather lasting 335 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:39,240 Speaker 1: impression on American science and industry via the DuPont family. 336 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:43,479 Speaker 1: Pierre Samuel DuPont was one of Lavoisier's close friends, and 337 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:47,000 Speaker 1: after the Revolution, during which DuPont had been arrested and 338 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: barely managed to escape the guillotine, Pierre Samuel decided to 339 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:53,399 Speaker 1: travel to the United States and start a new life 340 00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:58,639 Speaker 1: using gunpowder manufacturing, a knowledge that he had learned from Lavoisier. 341 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:01,000 Speaker 1: DuPont and his son opened up a powder works in 342 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:03,840 Speaker 1: Delaware in eighteen o two, and it eventually became the 343 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 1: huge corporation we know it as today. Yeah, and his 344 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:13,199 Speaker 1: son actually wanted to name it after Lavoisia initially. Oh wow. Yeah. 345 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:17,400 Speaker 1: So for Petter or for worse on all of these points, 346 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:21,040 Speaker 1: he's really in the thick of our modern chemistry knowledge 347 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:25,280 Speaker 1: and happenings even now. So yeah, thank him for having 348 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,240 Speaker 1: to learn the periodic table that except many people probably 349 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:30,679 Speaker 1: didn't enjoy learning that. I will just say thank for 350 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:33,919 Speaker 1: the awesomeness that is the periodic table. You don't like 351 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:44,280 Speaker 1: memorizing things, we need it. Yeah, it's important. Thank you 352 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,960 Speaker 1: so much for joining us for this Saturday classic. 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