Antoine Lavoisier, the next crucial year, or The sources of his quantitative method in chemistry / Frederic Lawrence Holmes.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Holmes, Frederic Lawrence, author.

Series:

Princeton legacy library

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chemists--France--Biography.

Chemists.

Chemistry--France--History--18th century.

Chemistry.

Creative ability in science.

Lavoisier, Antoine Laurent, 1743-1794.

Lavoisier, Antoine Laurent.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (193 pages) : illustrations.

Edition:

Course Book

Other Title:

Antoine Lavoisier, the next crucial year

Sources of his quantitative method in chemistry

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [1998]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Through his development of quantitative experimental methods, the chemist Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) implemented a principle that many regard as the cornerstone of modern science: in every operation there is an equal quantity of material before and after the operation. The origin of Lavoisier's methods, however, has remained a missing piece in this remarkable episode of scientific history, perhaps because the talented young scientist himself was not prepared for the journey his discoveries would set before him. In this book, Frederic Holmes suggests that Lavoisier gradually came to understand the nature and power of his quantitative method during the year 1773, when he began to carry out a research program on the fixation and release of airs. Drawing upon Lavoisier's surviving laboratory notebooks, Holmes presents an engaging portrait of a scientist still seeking the way that would lead him to become the leader of one of the great upheavals in the history of science.Holmes follows Lavoisier day-by-day at work in his laboratory over a course of several months. The scientist's resourcefulness and imagination spring to life in this account, as does his propensity to make mistakes, which taught him as much as his successes. During the course of this odyssey, Lavoisier saw his early theory of combustion collapse under the weight of his own efforts to provide experimental evidence to support it. In compensation, he acquired a method and the hard-won experience on which he would later construct a more enduring theoretical structure.Originally published in 1997.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

CHAPTER ONE. The Sources of Lavoisier's Quantitative Method in Chemistry

CHAPTER TWO. Consequences of the Crucial Year

CHAPTER THREE. Vision and Reality

CHAPTER FOUR. The Public Arena

CHAPTER FIVE. Reflections

CHAPTER SIX. In the Shadow of Black

CHAPTER SEVEN. Caution and Consolidation

CHAPTER EIGHT. The Long Summer Campaign

CHAPTER NINE. The End of the Beginning

CHAPTER TEN. Mopping-Up Operations

CHAPTER ELEVEN. Conclusion

CHAPTER TWELVE. Before and After 1773: Lavoisier Studies

APPENDIX. Names, Substances, and Apparatus in Eighteenth- Century Chemistry

Notes

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 157-180) and index.

ISBN:

9780691634791

0691634793

9780691605920

0691605920

9781400864652

1400864658

OCLC:

889252261