Nomenclature Lavoisier

The experiences which found expression in Dumas substitution theory led to a second type of names. The sensational observation of hydrogen replaced by other elements without fundamental change of type was immediately visualized by Dumas (19) as having a bearing on nomenclature. Lavoisier s binary nomenclature was now no longer sufficient. Dumas writes ... 

Antoine Lavoisier, who revolutionized the science of chemistry in the eighteenth century and replaced the mythical phlogiston with the tenn (and concept) of oxygen, clearly understood the importance of accurate definitions. In his words We cannot improve the language of any science without at the same time improving the science itself nor can we, on the other hand, improve a science without improving the language or nomenclature (Lavoisier 1798). Imre Lakatos (1981) wrote Philosophy of science without history is empty history of science without philosophy is blind . 

Soon after the publication of the Nomenclature, Lavoisier decided to write another book to explain the new system more fully. However, the scope of the work gradually widened, as Lavoisier explained in the Preface ... 

Berzehus (19) further appHed and amplified the nomenclature introduced by Guyton de Morveau and Lavoisier. It was he who divided the elements into metalloids (nonmetals) and metals according to their electrochemical character, and the compounds of oxygen with positive elements (metals) into suboxides, oxides, and peroxides. His division of the acids according to degree of oxidation has been Httie altered. He introduced the terms anhydride and amphoteric and designated the chlorides in a manner similar to that used for the oxides. 

This system of nomenclature has withstood the impact of later experimental discoveries and theoretical developments that have since the time of Guyton de Morveau and Lavoisier greatiy altered the character of chemical thought, eg, atomic theory (Dalton, 1802), the hydrogen theory of acids (Davy, 1809), the duahstic theory (Berzehus, 1811), polybasic acids (Liebig, 1834), Periodic Table (Mendeleev and Meyer, 1869), electrolytic dissociation theory (Arrhenius, 1887), and electronic theory and modem knowledge of molecular stmcture. 

In 1774, Scheele deterrnined that barium oxide was a distinct oxide or "earth," and named it terra ponderosa because of its high density (1). Later, this name was changed to barote from the Greek word meaning heavy. Later stUl, the name of the oxide was modified to baryta to conform to the nomenclature recommended by Lavoisier, and from this the name barium was derived... 

On the whole, historians have tended to identify the beginnings of the "modem" discipline of chemistry with a "Chemical Revolution," with Lavoisier and his circle, and more particularly with pneumatics, the oxygen theory, the balance, and the new chemical nomenclature of the late eighteenth century. This traditional historical interpretation is rooted in nineteenth-century histories of chemistry, particularly those written by the French chemists Dumas, Berthelot, and Wurtz.5... 

In marked contrast to Dumas s philosophical chemistry is the mode of presentation and the tradition of Lavoisier s Traite elementaire de chimie (1789). Lavoisier self-consciously began his text with observations, not first principles, stating that "chemistry is an incomplete science, not like geometry." The new nomenclature that he and his colleagues had developed is claimed to be based in a "natural order of ideas," not in metaphysics.23... 

Chemists working on the same problems could only know they were studying the same substances if they spoke the same language. The chemical language, like chemical instruments, defined the discipline.46 The instruments and the nomenclature were illustrated in elaborate diagrams and "tableaus." Lavoisier s "Tableau des substances simples" is one of the most famous. (See fig. 1.) Here he organizes thirty-three simple substances into four categories ... 

Quoted from Lavoisier, Oeuvres de Lavoisier, (Paris, 1862), II 525 in Maurice Crosland, "The Development of Chemistry in the Eighteenth Century," Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century 24 (1963) 369441, on 407. Included in the 1787 Nomenclature are six folding plates demonstrating a symbolic scheme for chemical representation devised by Hassenfratz and Adet. 

Because the new language incorporated an anti-phlogiston outlook, the book had many detractors. Nevertheless, the nomenclature found rapid acceptance among chemists, who realized that it was far superior to the chaotic assemblage of names used before. Today, Lavoisier s and Guyton s system of nomenclature is still the international language of chemistry. 

In 1787 Guyton de Morveau, Lavoisier, Berthollet, and Fourcroy introduced in their Methode de nomenclature chimique the terms carbone, for the element carbon, instead of charbon (charcoal) and acide carbonique (carbon dioxide) instead of air fixe ( fixed air ). 

Antoine-Francois de Fourcroy, 1755-1809. French chemist of the Revolutionary Period. Defender of Lavoisier s views on combustion. In collaboration with Lavoisier, Guyton de Morveau, and Berthollet he carried out a reform of chemical nomenclature. Fourcroy prepared and analyzed many reagents and medicinals. 

Hatchett named the new metal columbium and stated that its olive green prussiate and the orange-coloured gallate. . . may probably be employed with advantage as pigments. He also described his unsuccessful attempts to reduce the oxide to the metaL From his careful use of Lavoisier s new nomenclature, it is evident that Hatchett was not a phlogistonist. 

Baron Louis-Bemard Guyton de Morveau, 1737-1816. French attorney and chemist. Professor of chemistry at the Ecole Polytechnique from 1794 to 1815. With Lavoisier, Fourcroy, and Berthollet he brought chemical nomenclature into accord with modern views on combustion. He made the first serious researches On the structure of steel. 

Count Claude-Louis Berthollet, 1748-1822. French chemist and physician. Professor at the ficole Normale. He collaborated with Lavoisier in his researches and in reforming chemical nomenclature. Bertbollet s Essai de statique chimique emphasized the importance of the relative masses of the reacting substances in chemical reactions. 

Lavoisier s Elements of Chemistry synthesized and explained in a coherent manner the chemistry of his day. The work was readily accepted by many as a substantial improvement over the phlogiston theory. Young chemists quickly adopted Lavoisier s ideas and new nomenclature rather than trying to fit their work within a phlogiston framework. Upon reading Lavoisier s book,... 

Lavoisier, A.L. (1743—1794). Fr Chemist, regarded as the father of modern chemistry by virtue of his study of combstn and the role of oxygen. He formulated the theory of the conservation of matter, and laid the basis for chemical nomenclature. From 1775 to 1791 he was in charge of expl manufg in Fr ( Regisseur des Poudres ). He was unjustly accused and executed during the Fr revolution Ref Hackh s (1944), 481-R (1969), 381-R... 

Guyton de Morveau, Louis-Bemard (1737—1816). A French lawyer who made chemistry a hobby. He introduced (before Lavoisier), the first chemical nomenclature, promoted the ante-phlogiston theory and translated into French many books. He liquefied ammonia Refs 1) Hackh s Diet (1944), 393-L 2) C. et P. Auge, "Nouveau Petit LAROUSSE Illustre, Librairie Larousse, Paris VIe, 1953, p 1425-R... 

NE OF THE CENTRAL THEMES of this book is to show how the development of the concept of neutral salt in the eighteenth century made possible the creation of a compositional nomenclature by L.-B. Guyton de Morveau in 1782, which when adapted to the new chemistry of Lavoisier led to the creation of a definition of simple body the material element. The second major theme then describes how this new chemistry led to the final development of modern chemical composition in its atomic structure introduced by John Dalton. His atomic theory contained the symbolic operators that furnished the most convenient representation of the material composition of bodies that had become available by the end of the eighteenth century. The idea of an individual atomic weight unique to each element depended most immediately upon the concept of simple body, introduced by the authors of the M thode de nomenclature chimique in 1787. The new nomenclature was itself based on the principle that a name of a body ought to correspond to its composition. 

Lavoisier s chemistry was now essentially complete, and we can turn to a brief account of the development of a systematic chemical nomenclature through which Lavoisier s pneumatic chemistry became joined with the mainstream of empirical knowledge of the neutral salts. 

A.-L. Lavoisier, Memoire sur la necessite de reformer et du perfectionner la nomenclature de la chemie, published in Methode de nomenclature chimique, propose par MM, de MorveaUy Lavoisier Berthollet, et de Fourcroy (Paris, 1787). Quotation from Oeuvres de Lavoisiery vol. 5, 354-364 at 361. 

For a full account of the new nomenclature in different nations, see Lavoisier in European Context Negotiating a New language for Chemistry, ed. Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent and Ferdinandro Abbri (Canton, Massachusetts Science History, 1995). 

In the two decades between Lavoisier s Traite and Daltons New System of Chemical Philosophy, we find a conscious effort to accommodate chemical knowledge to a systematic compositional framework. This assimilation was organized through the new nomenclature and the operational concept of simple body. At the same time, there was a great increase in the gathering of quantitative data and attempts to find rational patterns to incorporate them. The results anticipated empirically the laws of constant composition and multiple proportion that reached full rationality in Dalton s atomic theory early in the next century. 

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