Essay, Research Paper: Antoine Lavoisier

Antoine Laurent Lavoisier was many things including, at chemist, economists, and public servant. But he is most famous for his role in the discovery of oxygen and the role it plays in combustion. Lavoisier was born in Paris on August 26, 1743. He went to college at College des Quatre Nations or at the Collage Mazarin depending on which biography you read. He was supposed to be a lawyer, like his father, but he turned to a life of science in 1764. He focused on geology mostly. From 1763 to 1767 he studied geology under Jean Etienne Guettard. Lavoisier wrote and published a paper on how to improve the street lighting in Paris in 1765. Because of this and some work with agriculture, he was elected into the Royal Academy of Sciences in 1768. He also joined the Farmer s General in 1768. The Farmer s General was a private company that collected taxes for the government. Later he went on to marry the daughter of a Farmer s General, Jaques Paulze in 1771. She quickly became her husband s partner, learning to read English [which Lavoisier could not do] and became a skilled draftsman and engraver. In 1775, Lavoisier was appointed to the National Gunpowder Commission. He moved to the Arsenal of Paris where he created a laboratory for his experiments. He was able to afford his experiments because of his inherited wealth. His home soon became a place where scientists would go to gather, sort of a bar without the alcohol.
Lavoisier was a Liberal who shared many of the ideas and philosophies. He believed deeply in the need for social reform in France. Lavoisier also played an active part in the events preceding the French Revolution. He proposed tax reforms and new economic strategies. During the Revolution, he published a report on the state of France s finances. Because of this, in 1789, he became an alternate deputy and drew up rules for deputies to follow. After the revolution began, journalists begin to slander Lavoisier for being a member of the Farmer s General. on May 8, 1794, all of the Farmer s General were arrested and thrown in prison. Their trial lasted under a day, and they were all convicted and sentenced to execution. Lavoisier requested time to complete some scientific work, the presiding judge answered The Republic has no need of scientists. His body was thrown into a common grave or he was guillotined on May 8, 1974, again, depending on which biography you read. Not a great ending either way, I know, but that is what supposedly happened. Try as I might, I couldn t find anything else about his family or personal life except for his wife. Bibliography  www.chem4kids.com Encarta encyclopedia The Volume Library II http://lavoisier.i-france.com www.dupont.com www.woodrow.org www.library.cornell.edu