|
Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier (August 26, 1743 - May 8, 1794), the father of modern chemistry, was a French nobleman prominent in the histories of chemistry, finance, biology, and economics. He stated the first version of the law of conservation of mass, recognized and named oxygen (1778) and hydrogen (1783), disproved the phlogiston theory, introduced the metric system , wrote the first extensive list of elements, and helped to reform chemical nomenclature. He was also an investor and administrator of the "Ferme Générale" a private tax collection company; chairman of the board of the Discount Bank (later the Banque de France); and a powerful member of a number of other aristocratic administrative councils. All of these political and economic activities enabled him to fund his scientific research. But because of his prominence in the pre-revolutionary government in France, he was beheaded at the height of the French Revolution.
|
