1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. And the 4 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 1: really interesting thing about the subject of today's podcast is 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,240 Speaker 1: how many labels he gets. So if you look up 6 00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 1: any biography on him, the Andrew will absolutely include some 7 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: combination of the words chemist, biologist, geologist, physiologist, economists. He 8 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:35,200 Speaker 1: even held a law degree, though he never practiced law. 9 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:37,520 Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, this particular figure 10 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: is most often referred to as a father of modern chemistry. 11 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: Uh and we referred to this person, who is Antoinevoisier 12 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,159 Speaker 1: before during our episode on Sophie Blanchard and the Ballooning Craze. 13 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 1: But he definitely deserves his own podcast because he was 14 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: instrumental in transitioning the field of chemistry from one that 15 00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: was still back in al chemical thinking and the combination 16 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: of science, ants and magic and sort of experimenting in 17 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: that arena, to a much more serious and systematic way 18 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:09,400 Speaker 1: to analyze and understand the world around us. And while 19 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:14,559 Speaker 1: he made incredible contributions to science, his life also took 20 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: some really important political turns. Amid the turmoil of the 21 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: French Revolution. So he had a lot of influence in 22 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 1: very many different and seemingly disparate places throughout his life. Yeah. Well, 23 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 1: and I was startled to learn how many of the 24 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:35,840 Speaker 1: basic things that I learned in science class came straight 25 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: from him. Yeah. He was really impactful on our modern lives, 26 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: whether we realize it or not. Yes. He was born 27 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 1: Antoine Laurent Lavassier on August forty three, and he was 28 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: born pretty well into privilege. His father, Jean Antoine Lavassier, 29 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: was a wealthy Parisian lawyer, and his mother was from 30 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:58,560 Speaker 1: a well to do family. When he was five, his 31 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: mother passed away and left him a huge inheritance. Yeah. 32 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: And while his father had originally been from a town 33 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:09,640 Speaker 1: roughly fifty miles northeast of Paris, and TOI, Laurent was 34 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: really born in a Parisian although he did often summer 35 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: in his father's hometown, which was villiers Cot, and the 36 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: absence of his mother, the Voisier's aunt, Constance became a 37 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:23,240 Speaker 1: significant caregiver and influence on his life. The two of 38 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 1: them are said to have been extremely close, and he 39 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:31,240 Speaker 1: attended the College Deacon. You'll sometimes see this referred to 40 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 1: as the College, and while there he studied astronomy, mathematics, botany, geology, mineralogy, logic, chemistry, 41 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: and other disciplines under some of the most respected thinkers 42 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: of the day. He eventually focused his education on pursuing 43 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: a law degree, primarily to please his family by following 44 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 1: in his father's footsteps. He finished his law studies in 45 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 1: seventeen sixty three, and then he was licensed to practice 46 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: a year later. But he never really had a passion 47 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,839 Speaker 1: for law and he never practice. Instead, he went right 48 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:06,640 Speaker 1: back to his love of science, primarily chemistry and geology, 49 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 1: and he published a paper in seventeen sixty five addressing 50 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: the problem of improving Parisian street lights. UH. Some of 51 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: his other earliest work, which he submitted to the Academy 52 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: of Sciences, was an analysis of gypsum and plaster of Paris, 53 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:22,919 Speaker 1: and this early early work that he was doing is 54 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 1: still considered important work regarding the composition of cement. So 55 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 1: already we've established that he he his impact is still 56 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 1: felt very significantly today. Yeah. In seventeen sixty eight, while 57 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 1: he was still only twenty five, Lavoisier was inducted into 58 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 1: the Elite Academy of Sciences. This was a big year 59 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 1: for Lavoisier because he also bought an interest in La 60 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: firm General and La firm General was a private company 61 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: that's the translates to farm General uh, and they actually 62 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: collected taxes for the French sovereign. So they would go 63 00:03:58,040 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: out and do the tax collecting and make a profit 64 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,160 Speaker 1: of it as they handed off the taxes to the government. 65 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: And so while his buy into this group solidified his 66 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,120 Speaker 1: fiscal standing and it was really helping him, you know, 67 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 1: fund his life and his experimentation, it made him part 68 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 1: of an organization that was not exactly popular with those 69 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:19,919 Speaker 1: not born into privilege, especially when you consider the political 70 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: climate in France at the time. Yeah, as is often 71 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: the case with really predominant scientific thinkers, he had a 72 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: personality that you might call distinctive. And Arthur Donovan's book 73 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 1: Antoine Lavassier, Science, Administration and Revolution, The Legendary Scientist, is 74 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:40,479 Speaker 1: described as being something of an obsessive Yeah. And to 75 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:44,120 Speaker 1: illustrate this, Donovan tell stories about things Lavoisi did when 76 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: he was very young and sort of starting out in 77 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:52,160 Speaker 1: his uh scientific um experimentation, and he talks about him 78 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: at nineteen doing this experiment where he wanted to investigate 79 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: the effects of diet on human health, and as part 80 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: of this experiment, he adopted a plan of consuming nothing 81 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 1: but milk. I like milk, but only milk is a 82 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: little far. In a similar episode to study illumination, as 83 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:13,919 Speaker 1: part of work he was doing about street lamps, he 84 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 1: proposed this plan to shut himself up in a dark 85 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 1: room for six weeks straight so that he could make 86 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:23,520 Speaker 1: himself intensely sensitive to different levels of light. There's no 87 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: evidence about whether he actually followed through on that one, 88 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: so yes, it's clear that, like many groundbreakers throughout history, 89 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: Lavoisier really did have this propensity for approaching problems and 90 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: ideas with really extreme methodologies. On December sixteen, seventeen seventy one, 91 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: a few years after his induction into the Academy of Sciences, 92 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:49,400 Speaker 1: Lavoisier married Marie Anne Pierrette Paul's, who was only thirteen 93 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,040 Speaker 1: at the time. While such a young bride is an 94 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 1: unsettling concept, particularly to modern ears, Marie Anne was really 95 00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: a very, very smart woman, and she became an important 96 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: collaborator to Lovoisier. By all accounts, it was quite a 97 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:07,040 Speaker 1: happy marriage and certainly, I think more of an equal 98 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: set up than many marriages at the time. Marie Anne 99 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: actually learned English just so that she could translate scientific 100 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: texts for her husband, and she also educated herself in 101 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,159 Speaker 1: art and engraving so she could illustrate his scientific papers. 102 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,279 Speaker 1: And she assisted in him him in his experiments throughout 103 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 1: the year, and she often took notes while he was 104 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:29,600 Speaker 1: working um and he really depended on those notes as 105 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 1: like the basis for his writings. So she was really 106 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:36,359 Speaker 1: important and they really did seem to have um a 107 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:41,239 Speaker 1: really good um marriage where they were collaborating all the time. 108 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:44,839 Speaker 1: In seventeen seventy five, he got an appointment to the 109 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: Royal Gunpowder and Saltpeter Administration, often referred to as just 110 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:52,720 Speaker 1: the Gunpowder Administration. This branch of the government had been 111 00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:55,839 Speaker 1: established by Louis the sixteenth after he ascended the throne 112 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:58,919 Speaker 1: in seventeen seventy four and came to realize that France 113 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:02,400 Speaker 1: didn't really have in any kind of self sufficient sourcing 114 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:06,640 Speaker 1: for gunpowder, and so Lavoisier had been appointed because he 115 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: was a chemist, and he moved into the Paris Arsenal 116 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:11,520 Speaker 1: and he set up a lab that was so well 117 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: appointed that. Throughout the years, I mean he had this 118 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 1: lab for a couple of decades, many of Europe's finest 119 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: chemists and great thinkers were attracted to it, so it 120 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: kind of became this interesting little enclave where people could 121 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: go and experiment and think and trade ideas. Working in 122 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 1: this then state of the art lab, Lavoisier was able 123 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: to to advance the production of gunpowder to a point 124 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: where he was making much better quality product at a 125 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 1: very rapid pace. And he was able to refine the 126 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 1: composition of gunpowder by analyzing and regulating the purity of 127 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 1: its ingredients, those primary ingredients being sulfur, charcoal, and potassium 128 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:50,440 Speaker 1: nitrate a K saltpeter. And he also refined the granulation process. 129 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:54,160 Speaker 1: But before we get into some other pretty big chemistry 130 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: breakthroughs that happened in Lavoisi's lab, let's take a moment 131 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: and talk about our sponsor. So back to the world 132 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 1: of Lavoisier. He spent several hours every day and one 133 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: full day every week in the lab, and he said 134 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: to have treasured that one full day of research, which 135 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: I can completely identify with His wife is quoted as 136 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: saying it was for him a day of happiness, some 137 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: friends who shared his views, and some young men proud 138 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: to be admitted to the honor of collaborating and his experiments. 139 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: Assembled in the morning in the laboratory. There they lunched, 140 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:30,400 Speaker 1: There they debated. It was there that you could have 141 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 1: heard this man with his precise mind, his clear intelligence, 142 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:39,559 Speaker 1: his high genius, the loftiness of his philosophical principles illuminating 143 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:42,720 Speaker 1: his conversation. Yes, so she again, it's kind of a 144 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:46,200 Speaker 1: nice um representation of their relationship that she really spoke 145 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: very highly of him. Uh. And she clearly admired his 146 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:51,680 Speaker 1: his work, in his mind and the way he worked. 147 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,439 Speaker 1: And it's just nice that he had this magical day 148 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 1: every week that he felt like with his best day 149 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:01,040 Speaker 1: and through his rigorous experimentation there. One of the big 150 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:04,560 Speaker 1: things that happened is that Lavoisier became convinced that mass 151 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:09,640 Speaker 1: is neither created nor destroyed during ordinary chemical reactions. Uh. 152 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:13,160 Speaker 1: This is big stuff. The massive substances produced by a 153 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:16,680 Speaker 1: chemical reaction is equal to the mass of the reactants involved. 154 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 1: And I will not pretend to have a particularly gifted 155 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 1: chemistry mind, but most people will recognize this as what 156 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:28,240 Speaker 1: was eventually put forth by Lavoisier as the law of 157 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:36,760 Speaker 1: conservation of mass hugely important basic chemistry concept. Thank you Lavoisier. Yeah. 158 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:40,240 Speaker 1: Those concepts also led him to further examination of the 159 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:44,760 Speaker 1: work of English natural philosopher Joseph Priestley. Marie Anne had 160 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:49,320 Speaker 1: translated a whole lot of Priestly's work for Lavoisier, and 161 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:53,560 Speaker 1: Priestly had in seventeen seventy four heated red mercury oxide 162 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 1: to obtain a colorless gas which would cause a candle 163 00:09:56,920 --> 00:09:59,520 Speaker 1: that was lighted in it to burn with quote a 164 00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:03,400 Speaker 1: remark be vigorous flame, according to Priestly, and he referred 165 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 1: to this colorless gas as deflogisticated air. At the time, 166 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 1: the prevailing belief in chemistry was that a substance called 167 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:15,800 Speaker 1: flogistine was a volatile part of all combustible substances, and 168 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:19,679 Speaker 1: then it was released as flame during combustion. Uh Flogistin 169 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:23,079 Speaker 1: gets its name from the Greek word for burn. Priestley 170 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:27,040 Speaker 1: thought that his pure air enhanced respiration and caused the 171 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 1: more vigorous and longer lasting burn of candles because it 172 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:34,240 Speaker 1: was free of fistin. He traveled to Paris to meet 173 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:38,400 Speaker 1: with Lavossier and disgust these findings but Lavoisier felt that 174 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,840 Speaker 1: the flogistin theory, which had been around for more than 175 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:45,120 Speaker 1: a hundred years at this point, was fundamentally flawed, and 176 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:47,839 Speaker 1: this was a very significant shake up in the scientific 177 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:50,240 Speaker 1: community at the time. This is on par with someone 178 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:53,240 Speaker 1: today claiming that potassium is an illusion. I mean it's 179 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:58,000 Speaker 1: It was really like, completely broke apart the fundamental base 180 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 1: of how they approached chemistry. And when Lavoisier delved more 181 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: deeply into analysis of combustion, he was able to identify 182 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:08,760 Speaker 1: the same gas that Priestly had, which Priestly was calling 183 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:13,679 Speaker 1: his deef logisticated air. Uh. Lavoisi eventually named it oxygen, 184 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 1: and by weighing and analyzing the components of combustions, he 185 00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:20,839 Speaker 1: came to the conclusion that flogion was, as he had 186 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 1: suspected already, not a thing, because it's just the math 187 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:29,520 Speaker 1: did not add up with his conservation of mass ideas right. 188 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:33,080 Speaker 1: He had come to the conclusion that air actually consisted 189 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:37,640 Speaker 1: of two components, one that combined with metal and supported respiration, 190 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:40,319 Speaker 1: and one that did not support either of these things. 191 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,800 Speaker 1: In seventeen seventy seven, he officially put forth a new 192 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 1: theory of combustion that left Flogiston completely off the table. 193 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:51,840 Speaker 1: And it's also during this time in his famous lab 194 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: that Lovoisier built on the work of other scientists to 195 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:57,280 Speaker 1: isolate and name hydrogen, and that's the thing that got 196 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:01,200 Speaker 1: him mentioned in our ballooning episode. And seventeen eighty three 197 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,680 Speaker 1: he was still embroiled in a constant, rigorous debate in 198 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: the scientific community over this anti flogist instance. He became 199 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:12,040 Speaker 1: really adamant that it was time to lead chemistry back 200 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 1: to a stricter way of thinking, and he campaigned for 201 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:19,800 Speaker 1: a systematic analysis of chemistry and science that distinguished true 202 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:24,280 Speaker 1: fact from assumption. His goal was quote to rid chemistry 203 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:27,840 Speaker 1: of every kind of impediment that delays its advance. So 204 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:34,359 Speaker 1: scientific method being established extremely important, as we have discussed 205 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:38,760 Speaker 1: in several episodes. In seventeen seven UH, in collaboration with 206 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:44,319 Speaker 1: Louis Bernard Guiton de Morveaux, Claude, Louis Bertroyer, Antoine, Francois 207 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:48,920 Speaker 1: aquas Uh, he set forth this proposed method de nomenal 208 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:54,080 Speaker 1: chimik and this is basically the early periodic table, and 209 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:56,640 Speaker 1: at this point it only consisted of thirty three elements 210 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,560 Speaker 1: which were grouped as gases, metals, non metals, and earth's 211 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:03,320 Speaker 1: and this was pretty groundbreaking, Like basically he was saying, 212 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:05,040 Speaker 1: if you can break a thing down to a point 213 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:07,360 Speaker 1: where you can't break it down any further, that's an element, 214 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:10,080 Speaker 1: and it's going on this list. That's the thing that 215 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:14,800 Speaker 1: we basically take for granted now in chemistry class. Uh. 216 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:17,200 Speaker 1: And then in seventeen eighty nine, so two years later, 217 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 1: still working with a lot of these same collaborators, Lavoisier 218 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:24,760 Speaker 1: published the Trite Element the Simi, which is basically the 219 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:28,520 Speaker 1: elementary Treatise of chemistry, and it's basically the textbook that 220 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:33,199 Speaker 1: really set the stage and transitioned us to modern chemistry officially. 221 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: It included the periodic table, it included the law of 222 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:39,520 Speaker 1: conservation of mass, as well as many other concepts, and 223 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:42,400 Speaker 1: Lavoisier anticipated that it was really going to take quite 224 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:45,600 Speaker 1: some time for these new ideas to be accepted. But 225 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 1: interestingly enough, it was really just a couple of years 226 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:51,000 Speaker 1: before the ideas that he and his colleagues had worked 227 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:53,560 Speaker 1: on were just sort of an accepted part of common 228 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:57,960 Speaker 1: scientific practices. And I think it's probably because he was 229 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:01,880 Speaker 1: so strict in his scientific method it it was all 230 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 1: really well laid out, and there wasn't a lot of like, 231 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 1: well we think it's like we tested this, and tested 232 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:10,280 Speaker 1: this and tested this. Even though he was always really 233 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:14,360 Speaker 1: busy in his lab, Lavoisier also worked as a civil servant. 234 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 1: In seven he was chosen as a member of the 235 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:20,840 Speaker 1: Assembly of Orleans, and in this position he began to 236 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:25,480 Speaker 1: drop a plan for improving community socio economic issues, and 237 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 1: this included the establishment of workhouses, canals, insurance societies, and 238 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:33,680 Speaker 1: savings banks. He was also asked to advise on issues 239 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:37,040 Speaker 1: such as sewers, the water supply, and developing a unified 240 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: system of weights and measures also known now as the 241 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:45,680 Speaker 1: metric system. Yeah, he really Again, the checklist of things 242 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:47,920 Speaker 1: he contributed to our modern lives starts to get a 243 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:52,360 Speaker 1: little um mind blowing, because everything that he touched we 244 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:55,880 Speaker 1: still are doing. Uh. But as the revelation stirred up 245 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:59,280 Speaker 1: around him, he really did seem to be genuinely interested 246 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,240 Speaker 1: in bettering the situation of the lower classes. And this 247 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:04,240 Speaker 1: is something that's been debated throughout the years just to 248 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:07,440 Speaker 1: whether or not he was kind of a foolish, well 249 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:09,680 Speaker 1: off person or if he really was in touch with 250 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: these ideas and and really had a keen understanding of 251 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:17,359 Speaker 1: what was going on. He said to have donated money 252 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,560 Speaker 1: of his own to the towns of Blois and Ramonte 253 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:24,239 Speaker 1: for the purchase of grains during the famine. But unfortunately 254 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: he had already made a pretty significant enemy uh in 255 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:32,520 Speaker 1: revolutionary Jean when he had belittle Mara's work in the sciences. 256 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:36,000 Speaker 1: I think people don't always remember that Mara worked in 257 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:42,640 Speaker 1: science as well as his uh sort of revolutionary status. Mara, 258 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: in reference to his interactions with the Academy of Science, 259 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:50,520 Speaker 1: referred at one point to quote the class of geometers 260 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 1: and astronomers which has formed a terrible cabal against me. 261 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:57,720 Speaker 1: The Vossier was among those he felt had a bias 262 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:01,200 Speaker 1: against him, And yeah, he kind of did seem to 263 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: think that Marat was as Charlatan. Yeah, he didn't have 264 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 1: high praise for him at all. So there there is 265 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 1: merit to that idea. Uh. In seventeen ninety, Lavoisier is 266 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 1: quoted as saying the state of public affairs in France 267 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:17,800 Speaker 1: has temporarily retarded the progress of science and distracted scientists 268 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:20,040 Speaker 1: from the work that is most precious to them. That 269 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:22,160 Speaker 1: he seemed to be kind of irritated by all of 270 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:24,720 Speaker 1: the things that were going on, and wished they could 271 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:27,160 Speaker 1: just go back to their labs and work on improving 272 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:31,720 Speaker 1: the world and analyzing it. In January of seventeen ninety one, 273 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: Jean Paul Morat began to loudly and publicly attack Lavoisier, 274 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:39,800 Speaker 1: and a pamphlet he wrote, I denounce you to the 275 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:43,239 Speaker 1: corea Paus, the leader of the chorus of the Charlatan's 276 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:47,480 Speaker 1: master Lavoisier, son of a land grabber, apprentice chemist, pupil 277 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:51,600 Speaker 1: of the Genevan stock jobber, Necker, a farmer, General commissioner 278 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:55,120 Speaker 1: for gunpowder and salt, Peter, director of the Discount Bank, 279 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: Secretary to the King, member of the Academy of Science, 280 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:03,280 Speaker 1: intimate of Volvier, unfaithful administrator of the Paris Food Commission, 281 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:07,560 Speaker 1: and the greatest schemer of our times? Would you believe 282 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:10,480 Speaker 1: that this little gentleman, who enjoys an income of forty 283 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:14,359 Speaker 1: thou livres and who's only claimed to public recognition is 284 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,359 Speaker 1: that he imprisoned Paris by cutting off the fresh air 285 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: with a wall that cost the poor people thirty three 286 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:24,480 Speaker 1: million livre. Is that he moved gunpowder from the arsenal 287 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:27,080 Speaker 1: into the bast deal on the night of July twelfth, 288 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:31,359 Speaker 1: and is engaged in a devilish intrigue to get himself 289 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:35,080 Speaker 1: elected as administrator of the Department of Paris. Yeah. So 290 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:38,199 Speaker 1: basically Murra is saying, like, oh, you claimed to be, 291 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:41,680 Speaker 1: you know, trying to do all of this civil work. Yeah, yeah, yeah, really, 292 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 1: you just want more power and more money. Your hands 293 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:48,400 Speaker 1: are in everything that's super suspicious. During what what came 294 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 1: to be known as the Reign of Terror, arrest warrants 295 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:55,080 Speaker 1: were issued for all the stakeholders in the firm General Um. 296 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:58,919 Speaker 1: Lavoisier was, of course, among those sought for arrest. An 297 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:02,600 Speaker 1: Allegations against this group of men included embezzlement of government 298 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:06,200 Speaker 1: funds and cutting the tobacco with other substances in order 299 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:11,240 Speaker 1: to increase toll duty profits. On May eighth, seventeen ninety four, 300 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:15,679 Speaker 1: a revolutionary tribunal tried Lavoisier and found him guilty in 301 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:19,959 Speaker 1: the conspiracy against the people of France. The famed chemist 302 00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:22,879 Speaker 1: was sent to the guillotine that very day, as was 303 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:26,720 Speaker 1: his father in law, Jacques Paul's, leaving Marie Anne without 304 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:29,280 Speaker 1: a father or a husband. Yeah. He had always had 305 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:33,400 Speaker 1: some business interests with her father. Uh, And some historians 306 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:35,800 Speaker 1: have pointed to the fact that Jean Parmarra had been 307 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:40,560 Speaker 1: assassinated ten months prior to Lavoisier's beheading as evidence that 308 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 1: Maurras should really not be blamed for Lavoisier's death. But 309 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:46,640 Speaker 1: there are others that would counter that his anti Lavoisier 310 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:49,600 Speaker 1: rhetoric really took a toll on the man's public image. 311 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:52,840 Speaker 1: And this was certainly a time when smear campaigns and 312 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:56,919 Speaker 1: bad press, particularly in France, were coloring the reputations of 313 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:00,200 Speaker 1: people for very long periods of time. For example, well, 314 00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:03,639 Speaker 1: let the meat cake came out of a cartoon that 315 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:05,480 Speaker 1: was running at the time, and how long have people 316 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:10,160 Speaker 1: still believed that ranch when it said that eighteen months 317 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:14,760 Speaker 1: after his beheading Lavoisier was exonerated. Yeah, Once things had 318 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:19,960 Speaker 1: calmed down a little bit and there was a more 319 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:22,879 Speaker 1: in depth analysis of everything that had happened, it became 320 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:26,280 Speaker 1: clear that really he was not this evil weasel that 321 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:28,719 Speaker 1: they had made him out to be. Unfortunately, if they 322 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 1: had thought of that eighteen months prior, think of all 323 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:35,879 Speaker 1: the other chemistry stuff, we would have uh. However, on 324 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:41,840 Speaker 1: June eighth, the American Chemical Society and that society Falsese 325 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaker 1: Dihimi dedicated an international historical chemical landmark to Lavoisier in Paris. 326 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:51,000 Speaker 1: As an additional note, Lavoisier has also had a rather 327 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:55,359 Speaker 1: lasting impression on American science and industry via the DuPont family. 328 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,600 Speaker 1: Pierre Samuel DuPont was one of Lavoisier's close friends, and 329 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:03,119 Speaker 1: after the Revolution, during which DuPont had been arrested and 330 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:06,960 Speaker 1: barely managed to escape the guillotine, Pierre Samuel decided to 331 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:09,520 Speaker 1: travel to the United States and start a new life 332 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 1: using gunpowder manufacturing, a knowledge that he had learned from Lavoisier. 333 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:17,119 Speaker 1: DuPont and his son opened up a powder works in 334 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:19,960 Speaker 1: Delaware in eighteen o two, and it eventually became the 335 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:23,760 Speaker 1: huge corporation we know it as today. Yeah, and his 336 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:29,680 Speaker 1: son actually wanted to name it after Lavoisier initially. Oh wow. Yeah. So, 337 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:33,520 Speaker 1: for better or for worse, on all of these points, 338 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:37,160 Speaker 1: he's really in the thick of our modern chemistry knowledge 339 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:41,440 Speaker 1: and happenings even now. So yeah, thank him for having 340 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,359 Speaker 1: to learn the periodic table that except many people probably 341 00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: didn't enjoy learning that. I will just say thank for 342 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: the awesomeness that is the periodic table. You don't like 343 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:54,919 Speaker 1: memorizing things, we need it, Yeah, it's important. Do you 344 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:57,360 Speaker 1: have some listener mail for us? I do, and I'm 345 00:20:57,400 --> 00:20:59,680 Speaker 1: reading an excerpted version because it's a little bit long, 346 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:02,119 Speaker 1: so I apologize for not including everything. But this is 347 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:05,800 Speaker 1: from our listener, Kathleen Uh and it is in relation 348 00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:09,760 Speaker 1: to our bright of Frankenstein episodes, and she says, I 349 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:11,919 Speaker 1: wanted to share a little story I had concerning the 350 00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:15,040 Speaker 1: history of the Frankenstein franchise. A few years ago. I 351 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:17,720 Speaker 1: had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Sarah Carlaw, the 352 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:20,359 Speaker 1: only child of Boris car Law. She came to my 353 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:22,720 Speaker 1: university to give a speech about her father, and as 354 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,080 Speaker 1: I was the only one on this newspaper staff who 355 00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:28,200 Speaker 1: knew who Boris Karloff was by name, I got the assignment, 356 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:30,919 Speaker 1: which I was super excited to do. I had a 357 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:33,000 Speaker 1: long interview with miss Carloff and she told me that 358 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:36,360 Speaker 1: although Frankenstein is always depicted as green, he was supposed 359 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:39,680 Speaker 1: to be gray. The makeup artist used green paint on Carloff, 360 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 1: but they did this to get a better gray color. 361 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:44,240 Speaker 1: Since the film is in black and white. It also 362 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:46,120 Speaker 1: makes more sense that a body made out of dead 363 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:49,439 Speaker 1: corpses would be gray instead of green. She showed me 364 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:51,639 Speaker 1: the only known footage of Boris in the Green Makeup 365 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:54,639 Speaker 1: on color film that was filmed by her mother on set, 366 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:57,479 Speaker 1: which shows Boris out of character sticking his tongue out 367 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:00,480 Speaker 1: at the camera. It was incredibly charming to see Rankenstein 368 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:03,239 Speaker 1: do such a childish thing. Miss Carlos said that her 369 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:05,800 Speaker 1: father never minded being typecast as a horror actor or 370 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:07,920 Speaker 1: villain because he was so thankful to have a job. 371 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:11,159 Speaker 1: He was half Indians, so his skin tone enhanced by 372 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:14,480 Speaker 1: makeup and his dark voice were perfectly utilized in villain parts. 373 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:17,480 Speaker 1: Karloff was disappointed to not be able to be in 374 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:20,000 Speaker 1: the film Arsenic and Old Lace with Carrie Grant, but 375 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 1: as he had a contract for the play on Broadway, 376 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:24,840 Speaker 1: he was unable to take part in the film, even 377 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:27,080 Speaker 1: though there is a joke written about him in the script. 378 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:30,800 Speaker 1: Karlov is also known for the voice of the narrator 379 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,080 Speaker 1: of The Grinch, and Miss Karloff said that he took 380 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:36,760 Speaker 1: that role for his grandchildren. She also went into detail 381 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:38,680 Speaker 1: about how Boris Karloff was one of the founders of 382 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:41,399 Speaker 1: the Screen Actors Guild and his card number was something 383 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:44,800 Speaker 1: like six. She discussed how famous actors would come to 384 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:47,400 Speaker 1: her house, or how her father would go to their houses, 385 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 1: and as they organized to unionized the film business, she 386 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:52,439 Speaker 1: said that they would have to park their cars a 387 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:54,520 Speaker 1: long way from the houses and then walk just in 388 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,479 Speaker 1: casey were being watched by studio bosses. I always love 389 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:02,320 Speaker 1: those wonderful yeah. Uh. And then Kathleen mentions that she 390 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:05,240 Speaker 1: would like us to do more topics on Sweden, which 391 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:08,400 Speaker 1: I would like to do as well, uh, and talks 392 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:10,400 Speaker 1: about some other things she would love for us to cover, 393 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:13,720 Speaker 1: so hopefully look at some of those. Um. I have 394 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,000 Speaker 1: seen this beautiful picture of Karloff in the full makeup 395 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:20,560 Speaker 1: drinking tea and he's totally pinky out like fancy pants 396 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:25,119 Speaker 1: drinking it. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen. Uh. Yeah, 397 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:27,240 Speaker 1: it's uh, and it is funny. I always kind of 398 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:31,800 Speaker 1: laugh when you see Frankenstein's monster painted green because it 399 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:35,600 Speaker 1: is kind of weird. That's not what happens to of courses. 400 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:43,120 Speaker 1: They don't unless they grow some kind of fungus so much. Uh. 401 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:45,000 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us and share 402 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,280 Speaker 1: cool anecdotes, which I always love, uh, you may do 403 00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:51,719 Speaker 1: so at History Podcast at Discovery dot com. You can 404 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:54,200 Speaker 1: also connect with us on Facebook at facebook dot com, 405 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:57,800 Speaker 1: splash history class stuff on Twitter at miss in history 406 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:00,760 Speaker 1: at missed in history dot Tudler dot m, and you 407 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:05,359 Speaker 1: can visit us on pinterest. We are off a bit away, uh, 408 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:07,160 Speaker 1: if you'd like to learn a little bit more about 409 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:09,879 Speaker 1: something we talked about today, not two ideas. One as 410 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:11,800 Speaker 1: you can go to our website and do a search 411 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:14,280 Speaker 1: for oxygen and one of the articles will be what 412 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:16,960 Speaker 1: if I pumped pure oxygen into my car engine instead 413 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:19,800 Speaker 1: of using the air in the atmosphere. And the other 414 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:22,800 Speaker 1: is that if you types or guillotine you get the 415 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:26,679 Speaker 1: article do you really stay conscious after being decapitated? And 416 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: there was at one point kind of an apocryphal rumor 417 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:33,600 Speaker 1: story about Lavoisier making a deal with somebody else that, uh, 418 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:36,320 Speaker 1: if he could still if he was still conscious after 419 00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:40,479 Speaker 1: decapitation for a moment, he would wink um. That's been 420 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:43,200 Speaker 1: largely discounted, but it's a fun story just the same. 421 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:45,440 Speaker 1: And if anybody would try something like that, it's the 422 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:47,240 Speaker 1: same man that wanted to drink nothing but milk is 423 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:51,480 Speaker 1: a nineteen year old definitely, So if you would like 424 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:54,160 Speaker 1: to look up either of those things or almost anything else, 425 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:56,280 Speaker 1: you can think of. You can do that at our website, 426 00:24:56,280 --> 00:25:02,159 Speaker 1: which is how Stuff Works dot Com. The more I 427 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:05,040 Speaker 1: missed thousands of other topics because it has to works 428 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:06,280 Speaker 1: dot com. E