The Project Gutenberg EBook of Elements of Chemistry, by Antoine Lavoisier

Full title: Elements of Chemistry, in a New Systematic Order, Containing All the Modern Discoveries

Makes for an interesting read. It was for its time quite a complete compendium of chemical knowledge at the time of its publication. I greatly admire people such as Lavoisier and Boyle, trying to take the mystical out of alchemy and establish chemistry on sound, strictly evidence based principles.

Building upon Boyle’s clearheaded ideas on what an element is, Lavoisier presents the state of knowledge in a systematic way, with much use of synoptic tables and new, straightforward nomenclature. Some of the terminology has since fallen from use: hydrogen is considered the “radical” of water.

Additionally, he presents the set of elements that had, to that time, been isolated but also includes a set of elements that he predicts must exist. He includes “caloric” and “light” to be among the “simple substances”: of course, we now know these are quite different things from chemical elements.

“Simple substances belonging to all the kingdoms of nature, which may be considered as the elements of bodies.”
Light Light.

Caloric
Light
Oxygen
Azote (which we now know as nitrogen)
Hydrogen
Sulphur
Phosphorous
Charcoal (which we now call carbon, as an element)
Antimony
Arsenic
Bismuth
Cobalt
Copper
Gold
Iron
Lead
Manganese
Mercury
Molybdena
Nickel
Platina
Silver
Tin
“Tungstein”
Zinc

He includes the following metals although at the time they had not been isolated: they had been isolated as oxides (earths).

Lime (ie calcium)
Magnesia
Barytes (ie barium)
Argill (ie aluminium)
Silex (ie silicon)

And also the following halogens which he infers (correctly) exist as the radicals of common acids, but which at the time had not been shown to exist:
Muriatic radical (chlorine)
Fluoric radical (fluorine)
Boracic radical (boron)

—-
“It may be easily supposed that it was not possible to attain all these different objects without departing, in some instances, from established custom, and adopting terms which at first sight will appear uncouth and barbarous. But we considered that the ear is soon habituated to new words, especially when they are connected with a general and rational system. The names, besides, which were formerly employed, such as powder of algaroth, salt of alembroth, pompholix, phagadenic water, turbith mineral, colcathar, and many others, were neither less barbarous nor less uncommon. It required a great deal of practice, and no small degree of memory, to recollect the substances to which they were applied, much more to recollect the genus of combination to which they belonged. The names of oil of tartar per deliquium, oil of vitriol, butter of arsenic and of antimony, flowers of zinc, &c. were still more improper, because they suggested false ideas: For, in the whole mineral kingdom, and particularly in the metallic class, there exists no such thing as butters, oils, or flowers; and, in short, the substances to which they give these fallacious names, are nothing less than rank poisons.”
——

hahahah he was so dumb

You’re always the harsh marker.

Dropbear said:

hahahah he was so dumb

Those ancients only had the four elements..

Stoopidos

Lavoisier did much to disprove the phlogiston theory, supplanting it with the correct idea that respiration and the formation of acids are supported by a gas that makes up 20% of the atmosphere, which he called oxygen. He also was one of the founders of the metric system.

Ja. I’ve got his book.

dv said:

Lavoisier did much to disprove the phlogiston theory, supplanting it with the correct idea that respiration and the formation of acids are supported by a gas that makes up 20% of the atmosphere, which he called oxygen. He also was one of the founders of the metric system.

I’m pretty sure it’s Leviosa not Lavoisier

Killed in the French Revolution

Elixir of wookiemeisterin – now known as plutonium

diddly-squat said:

dv said:

Lavoisier did much to disprove the phlogiston theory, supplanting it with the correct idea that respiration and the formation of acids are supported by a gas that makes up 20% of the atmosphere, which he called oxygen. He also was one of the founders of the metric system.

I’m pretty sure it’s Leviosa not Lavoisier

(glares)

dv said:

diddly-squat said:

dv said:

Lavoisier did much to disprove the phlogiston theory, supplanting it with the correct idea that respiration and the formation of acids are supported by a gas that makes up 20% of the atmosphere, which he called oxygen. He also was one of the founders of the metric system.

I’m pretty sure it’s Leviosa not Lavoisier

(glares)

I know you want me…

dv said:

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Elements of Chemistry, by Antoine Lavoisier

Full title: Elements of Chemistry, in a New Systematic Order, Containing All the Modern Discoveries

“Simple substances belonging to all the kingdoms of nature, which may be considered as the elements of bodies.”

Oxygen
…
Boracic radical (boron)

I count that Lavoisier has 31 elements, known or inferred. Published in 1789.

By 1869, Mendeleev’s original periodic table had 67 elements, known or inferred.

BTW, note that in chemistry there are three completely different definitions of the word “elements”.

In ancient times the word “elements” would now be translated as “states of matter”.
In modern times the word “elements” means the pure materials of each atomic number.
Lavoisier uses “elements” in its third sense, as “introductory summary”.

Lavoisier uses the descriptive “simple substances” to describe light, caloric = heat & fire, and the chemical elements.

“The better to determine our ideas relating to this subject, which has not hitherto been sufficiently considered, let us, for a moment, conceive what change would take place in the various substances which compose our earth, if its temperature were suddenly altered. If, for instance, we were suddenly transported into the region of the planet Mercury, where probably the common temperature is much superior to that of boiling water, the water of the earth, and all the other fluids which are susceptible of the gasseous state, at a temperature near to that of boiling water, even quicksilver itself, would become rarified; and all these substances would be changed into permanent aëriform fluids or gasses, which would become part of the new atmosphere. These new species of airs or gasses would mix with those already existing, and certain reciprocal decompositions and new combinations would take place, until such time as all the elective attractions or affinities subsisting amongst all these new and old gasseous substances had operated fully; after which, the elementary principles composing these gasses, being saturated, would remain at rest. We must attend to this, however, that, even in the above hypothetical situation, certain bounds would occur to the evaporation of these substances, produced by that very evaporation itself; for as, in proportion to the increase of elastic fluids, the pressure of the atmosphere would be augmented, as every degree of pressure tends, in some measure, to prevent evaporation, and as even the most evaporable fluids can resist the operation of a very high temperature without evaporating, if prevented by a proportionally stronger compression, water and all other liquids being able to sustain a red heat in Papin’s digester; we must admit, that the new atmosphere would at last arrive at such a degree of weight, that the water which had not hitherto evaporated would cease to boil, and, of consequence, would remain liquid; so that, even upon this supposition, as in all others of the same nature, the increasing gravity of the atmosphere would find certain limits which it could not exceed. We might even extend these reflections greatly farther, and examine what change might be produced in such situations upon stones, salts, and the greater part of the fusible substances which compose the mass of our earth. These would be softened, fused, and changed into fluids, &c.: But these speculations carry me from my object, to which I hasten to return.”

Great insight!