Oxygen, Acids, and Water: Eight Chapters from the Elementary Treatise on Chemistry

One of the most revolutionary scientific works ever written, and also one of the most accessible, Lavoisier’s Elementary ­Treatise on Chemistry established the constancy of weight in chemical reactions, revealed the composition of water, and set forth a clear concept of the nature of gases. The Treatise cemented a new, ­rational nomenclature that accurately expressed the nature of materials, overthrowing such colorful but deceptive names as “flowers of sulfur” and “butter of arsenic.” Impressed by Condillac’s maxim, “the art of reasoning is, at bottom, nothing else but a well-constructed language,” Lavoisier presents experimental facts in expressions that are vivid, exact, and often poetical. As a result, the Treatise is still, after more than 200 years, a model of clarity and a beautiful example of scientific reasoning.

Lavoisier’s magnificent work was last translated into English in 1790, in a style that even then could be considered wooden and excessively formalistic. Now Chester Burke and Matthew Holtzman, faculty members at St. John’s College in Annapolis, have provided a rendition that preserves the ­natural and unadorned liveliness of Lavoisier’s narrative prose.

Even more valuable to nonspecialist readers of this Module is Howard Fisher’s commentary, unobtrusively keyed to the text at the bottom of each page. For each word or phrase that is likely to be unfamiliar, Fisher gives a clear explanation. Obsolete chemical terms, physical concepts, archaic or obscure words, and unfamiliar references are fully explained. And, most important for those unable to repeat Lavoisier’s experiments, Fisher lucidly describes the equipment and the procedures, and discusses the significance of the results. Readers who think, “Oh, this is science—I never could understand it,” will be surprised to discover the clear and persuasive way that Lavoisier’s beautiful language, assisted by Fisher’s notes, brings this extraordinary and foundational work of science to life as human thought, and even as poetry.

About Antoine Lavoisier

26 August 1743–8 May 1794

Lavoisier’s accomplishments in chemistry were numerous and consequential;

but central to them all was his appreciation of the importance of

weight in chemical reactions—an insight which changed chemistry from a

qualitative science to a quantitative one.

A quantitative science depends on measurement; and in the eighteenth

century, instruments capable of precision performance were enormously

expensive to build. Because Lavoisier had inherited a large fortune, he

possessed the means to construct and maintain a large and sophisticated

laboratory and furnish it with superbly-crafted scientific apparatus.

Lavoisier married Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze in 1771. She was to

become deeply involved in Lavoisier’s scientific activities, assisting in the

laboratory, documenting experiments and apparatus in sketches and notes,

and translating the scientific writings of English researchers. It was she who

prepared the engravings for the 1789 publication of the Elementary Treatise

on Chemistry—engravings that are reproduced in this Green Cat Module.

Lavoisier’s principal achievements and fame lay in the field of chemistry.

Nevertheless, throughout his life he devoted substantial efforts towards

social good, promoting improvements in agriculture, air and water quality,

and public health.

In 1768 Lavoisier purchased a share in a company that collected customs,

excise, and other taxes under royal charter. Although the income from this

source helped finance his scientific work, Lavoisier’s association with tax collection

later made him a target of the revolutionary powers; he was put to

death on 8 May 1794 at age 50.

The mathematician Lagrange memorialized Lavoisier’s execution with

these words: “It took them but an instant to cut off this head, and one hundred

years might not suffice to produce another like it.” A year and a half after

his death, Lavoisier was exonerated by the French government.

In order