Lavoisier, Antoine-Laurent nomenclature

Lavoisier, Antoine-Laurent. Memoire sur la necessite de reformer de perfec-tionner la nomenclature de la chimie, lu a I assemblee publique de TAcademie royale des sicences, du 18 avril 1787. 63-74 in Methode de nomenclature chimique (Paris Seuil, 1994). 

Carbon was officially classified as an element near the end of the 18th century. In 1787, four French chemists-Guyton de Morveau, Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, Claude Louis Berhollet, and Antoine Francois Fourcroy—wrote a book outlining a method for naming chemical substances, A Method for Chemical Nomenclature. The name they gave to carbon was carbone, which was based on the earlier Latin term for charcoal, charbon. 

Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794). French chemist, sometimes referred to as the father of modern chemistry. In addition to his role in verifying the principle of the conservation of mass, he made important contributions to chemical nomenclature and to the understanding of the role of oxygen in combustion, respiration, and acidity. For his role as a tax collector for the king, Lavoisier was guillotined during the French Revolution. 

In 1787, the Academie Royale des Sciences in Paris published a book entitled Meth-ode de nomenclature chimique The front page names four authors Louis-Bemard Guyton de Morveau, Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, Claude Louis Berthollet, and Antoine Francois Fourcroy. In this book, one encounters the first comprehensive classification of chemical substances according to composition in the history of chemistry. Taking into account the stature of its authors, its proximity in time to Lavoisier s Trade elementaire de chimie from 1789, and the fact that it first appeared in a book on chemical nomenclature, this classification immediately raises a variety of questions and issues. 

Guyton de Morveau, Louis-Bemard, Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, et al. 1787. Methode de nomenclature chimique. On y a joint un nouveau systime de caracteres chimiques, adaptes d cette nomenclature, par MM. Hassenfratz et Adet. Paris Cuchet. 

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