Antoine Lavoisier

Revolutionized chemistry by overturning phlogiston theory and establishing the law of conservation of mass

Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier (1743–1794) is celebrated as the father of modern chemistry. His meticulous experiments dismantled the archaic phlogiston theory and introduced a systematic chemical nomenclature. By demonstrating that combustion results from oxygen combining with substances, he redefined chemical reactions as rearrangements of matter rather than mystical processes.

Lavoisier's law of conservation of mass ("Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed") became the cornerstone of quantitative chemistry. He collaborated with Marie-Anne Paulze Lavoisier to publish Traité Élémentaire de Chimie (1789), which standardized chemical terms still used today like 'oxygen' and 'hydrogen'.

Beyond science, Lavoisier worked as a tax collector but fell victim to the French Revolution's guillotine in 1794. His death was lamented by mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange: It took them only an instant to cut off his head, but France may not produce another like it in a century.

Modern historians credit Lavoisier for transforming chemistry from alchemy into a rigorous science through precise measurement and logical methodology. The Science History Institute maintains extensive archives of his original equipment and manuscripts.