Malaspina Great Books, Established 1995; Created by Russell McNeil, PhD, Visitors:

With the growing importance of global warming, Climate News Live provides up-to-date news and information. This is a non-partisan source of timely news articles, current events, and the relevant topics that are shaping the public policy debate in the United States and elsewhere. ... (click on picture or headline above for more)

title author

Malaspina Great Books Blog

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius: Selections Annotated and Explained Russell McNeil, PhD Editor, Malaspina Great Books In 1862 the English literary critic and poet Matthew Arnold described Marcus Aurelius as "the most beautiful figure in history." The Stoicism of Aurelius is grounded in rationality and rests solidly on an ethical approach rooted in nature. Stoicism promises real happiness and joy in this life and a serenity that can never be soured by personal misfortune. This philosophy has universal appeal with practical implications on problems ranging from climate change and terrorism to the personal management of sickness, aging, depression and addiction. I truly believe that the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius has much to offer us now...(Click on book cover for more)

Category:	Classical Science Classical Literature
Name:	Antoine Laurent Lavoisier - Astronomy Series, Chemistry Series
Birth Year:	1743
Death Year:	1794
Representative Image:
Biography, Lectures, and Research Links:	Biography - Astronomy Series, Chemistry Series Blog Antoine Laurent Lavoisier SEARCH NOW: by title by author Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) was a French chemist. He stated the first version of the law of conservation of matter, recognized and named oxygen (1778), disproved phlogiston theory, and helped to reform chemical nomenclature. Lavoisier is often referred to as the father of modern chemistry. Born in Paris, France on August 26, 1743, Antoine Laurent Lavoisier would later attend the College Mazarin from 1754 to 1761, studying chemistry, botany, astronomy, and mathematics. His first chemical publication appeared in 1764. In 1767 he worked on a geological survey of Alsace and Lorraine. He was elected a member of the French Academy of Sciences in 1768. In 1771, he married 13-year-old Marie-Anne Pierette Paulze, who translated from English for him and illustrated his books. Beginning in 1775 he served on the Royal Gunpowder Administration, where his work led to improvements in the production of gunpowder and the use of agricultural chemistry by designing a new method for preparing saltpeter. Some of Lavoisier's most important experiments examined the nature of combustion, or burning. Through these experiments, he demonstrated that burning is a process that involves the combination of a substance with oxygen. He also demonstrated the role of oxygen in animal and plantrespiration, as well as its role in metal rusting. Lavoisier's explanation of combustion replaced the phlogiston theory, which postulates that materials release a substance called phlogiston when they burn. He also discovered that the inflammable air of Henry Cavendish which he termed hydrogen (Greek for water-former), combined with oxygen to produce a dew, as Joseph Priestley had reported, which appeared to be water. Lavoisier's work was partly based on the work of Priestley, however, he tried to take credit for Priestley's discoveries. This tendency to use the results of others without acknowledgment then draw conclusions is said to be characteristic of Lavoisier. In Sur la combustion en general (On Combustion, 1777) and Considerations Generales sur la Nature des Acides (1778), he demonstrated that the "air" responsible for combustion was also the source of acidity. In 1779, he named this part of the air oxygen (Greek for acid-former), and the other azote (Greek for no life). In Reflexions sur le Phlogistique (1783), Lavoisier showed the phlogiston theory to be inconsistent. Lavoisier's experiments were among the first truly quantitative chemical experiments ever performed. He showed that, although matter changes its state in a chemical reaction, the quantity of matter is the same at the end as at the beginning of every chemical reaction. He burnt phosphorus and sulfur in air, and proved that the products weighed more than he original. Nevertheless, the weight gained was lost from the air. These experiments provided evidence for the law of the conservation of matter. Lavoisier also investigated the composition of water, and he named the components of water oxygen and hydrogen. With the French chemist Claude-Louis Berthollet and others, Lavoisier devised a chemical nomenclature, or a system of names, which serves as the basis of the modern system. He described it in Methode de nomenclature chimique (Method of Chemical Nomenclature, 1787). This system is still largely in use today, including names such as sulfuric acid, sulfates, and sulfites. His Traite Elementaire de Chimie (Elementary Treatise of Chemistry, 1789) is considered to be the first modern chemical textbook, and presented a unified view of new theories of chemistry, contained a clear statement of the Law of Conservation of Mass, and denied the existence of phlogiston. Also, Lavoisier clarified the concept of an element as a simple substance that could not be broken down by any known method of chemical analysis, and he devised a theory of the formation of chemical compounds from elements. In addition, it contained a list of elements, or substances that could not be broken down further, which included oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, phosphorus, mercury, zinc, and sulfur. His list, however, also included light, and caloric, which he believed to be material substances. Of key significance in Lavoisier's life was his study of law. This led to an interest in French politics, and as a result, he obtained a position as tax collector in the Ferme Generale, a private tax-collection company, at the age of 26, where he attempted to introduce reforms in the French monetary and taxation system. While in government work, he helped develop the metric system to secure uniformity of weights and measures throughout France. As one of 28 French tax collectors Lavoisier was branded a traitor by revolutionists in 1794 and guillotined at the age of 51. Ironically, Lavoisier was one of the few liberals in his position. Lavoisier's fundamental contributions to chemistry were a result of a conscious effort to fit all experiments into the framework of a single theory. He established the consistent use of chemical balance, used oxygen to overthrow the phlogiston theory, and developed a new system of chemical nomenclature which held that oxygen was an essential constituent of all acids (which later turned out to be erroneous). For the first time the modern notion of elements is laid out systematically; the three or four elements of classical chemistry gave way to the modern system, and Lavoisier worked out reactions in chemical equations that respect the conservation of mass. [This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License and uses material adapted in whole or in part from the Wikipedia article on Antoine Laurent Lavoisier.] The Great Books: Antoine Laurent Lavoisier Please browse our Amazon list of titles about Antoine Laurent Lavoisier. For rare and hard to find works we recommend our Alibris list of titles about Antoine Laurent Lavoisier. Post Comments, Questions or Suggestions! This database is maintained by Malaspina Great Books.
	Great Books Online: Amazon Search Search: Books Classical Music DVD Popular Music Software Video magazines Toys & Games Baby Computer & Video Games Electronics Wireless Phones Tools & Hardware Outdoor Living Kitchen & Housewares Camera & Photo All Products Keywords:
Best Choice Books, Music, Art:	Elements of Chemistry
Browse Books, Music, Art & Book Reviews:	Books from Alibris: Antoine Laurent Lavoisier Books from Amazon: Antoine Laurent Lavoisier
	Audiobooks at iTunes: Thousands of Classics
Library Catalogs:	COPAC UK: Antoine Laurent Lavoisier Library of Canada: Antoine Laurent Lavoisier Library of Congress: Antoine Laurent Lavoisier Other Library Catalogs: Antoine Laurent Lavoisier
External Links:	Research Links - Science: Antoine Laurent Lavoisier Research Links - Literature: Antoine Laurent Lavoisier Malaspina Canada Links: Antoine Laurent Lavoisier
Online Research:
Records from Related Period and Category:	Classical Science Classical Literature

About this Database:

This web page is part of a biographical database on Great Ideas. These are living ideas that have shaped, defined and directed world culture for over 2,500 years. By definition the Great Ideas are radical. As such they are sometimes misread, or distorted by popular simplifications. Understanding a Great Idea demands personal engagement. Our selection of Great Ideas is drawn from literature and philosophy, science, art, music, theatre, and cinema. We also include biographies of pivotal historical and religious figures, as well as contributions from women and other historically under-represented minorities. The result is an integrated multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary database built upon the framework of the always controversial Great Books Core List published in 1940 by the late Great Books Pioneer Mortimer Adler (1902-2001). Most of the works on that list are available in the 60 volume Great Books of the Western World.