Ten fun facts about Antoine Laurent Lavoisier

Fact 1
Antoine Lavoisier is famous for the oxygen theory of combustion.He discovered the composition of oxygen and hydrogen.Antoine Lavoisier had studied and predicted the existence of silicon.

Fact 2
His had a penchant for accuracy. This was instrumental in the formulation of the metric system of measures and weights and is still widely in use today.

Fact 3
In 1766 the King of France awarded Antoine Lavoisier a gold medal for an essay based on problems related to urban street lighting.

Fact 4
He started out his career as a lawyer but studied botany, geology, mineralogy and chemistry. It did not take him long to abandon law and pursue science on a full-time basis.

Fact 5
In 1771, Antoine Lavoisier married the 14-year-old Marie Anne Pierrette Paulze. She was the daughter of member of the Tax Farm that he was employed in.

Fact 6
Antoine Lavoisier began making a geological map of France in 1769 which was later considered to be an important tool for the industrial development of the country.

Fact 7
Lavoisier’s wife played a critical role in his scientific career, translated English chemical works into French, assisted in the laboratory work and drew diagrams for scientific work that he was involved in.

Fact 8
In 1775 he appointed as a gunpowder commissioner. His efforts brought about an improvement in the quality and quantity of French gunpowder that was produced. It became a rich revenue source for the government.

Fact 9
His world renowned memoir "On the Nature of the Principle Which Combines with Metals during Their Calcination and Increases Their Weight," was read to the academy on April 26, 1775. The "official" version of Lavoisier's Easter Memoir did not appear until 1778.

Fact 10
In the year 1789, soon after King Louis XVI was overthrown, Lavoisier who was then a tax collector earned the wrath of the revolutionaries. He was eventually executed by them in on 8 May 1794.

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