FOURCROIT, Antoine Francois
French chemist and statesman, Antoine François de Furcroix was born in Paris; in his youth he studied writing and was a copyist. After a chance meeting with F. Vic d'Air, the permanent secretary of the Royal Medical Society, Furcroix was given the opportunity to study medicine. In 1780 he received his doctorate in medicine and was elected a member of the Medical Society. During his student years, Furcroix showed a great interest in chemistry, which he studied Bucke was the foremost chemist of the time and became famous for his experiments on the effects of gases on animals; according to Furcroix, he was one of the first chemists to oppose the phlogiston theory. began lecturing a course in chemistry and natural history at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Paris. In 1784 he became a professor at the Botanical Garden. From 1785 he was a member of the Paris Academy of Sciences. With the beginning of the revolution, Furcroix became involved in active political activity. In 1792 he became a member Jacobin Club, in 1793 he was a member of the National Convention. x and scientific committees and the Medical Society, where he held a leading position. Since 1801 - the chief administrator of public education in France. He took part in the restoration of the renovated Paris University and in the organization of a network of primary and secondary schools in France, was involved in the reorganization of mining in France. In April 1809, Furcroix received the title of Count of the Empire from Napoleon.
The main works are devoted to the systematization and classification of chemical compounds. Furcroix was one of the closest associates of A.L. Lavoisier, although he did not immediately recognize antiphlogistic chemistry. As early as 1786, Furcroix appears as a supporter of the phlogiston theory; True, he sets out in his book the foundations of both theories - phlogiston and oxygen, but when explaining, for example, the phenomena of combustion and calcification of metals, he, following Maker, says that simultaneously with the addition of "vital air" (oxygen) from this body to the burning body the phlogiston it contains is removed. However, in 1786, Furcroix completely abandoned the phlogiston theory and widely promoted the oxygen theory, contributing to its rapid dissemination and acceptance. Together with L.B. Guiton de Morveau, A.L. Lavoisier and C.L.Berthollet developed in 1786-1787. new chemical nomenclature. In 1799, together with L.N. Vauquelin, he clarified the chemical nature of urea. The first to observe (1800) the thermal effect electric currentby including a poorly conducting wire in the galvanic circuit.
Furcroix was widely known as the author of textbooks and monographs in chemistry. Especially widespread was his work "Elements of Natural History and Chemistry" in four volumes (1786), which is a reworking of his own book "Elementary Lectures on Natural History and Chemistry" in two volumes (1782). Took part in the publication of the "Methodical Encyclopedia of Chemistry, Pharmacy and Metallurgy" (1786-1789). These works have been reprinted many times in various languages. He acted as a popularizer of science. He wrote the works "Chemical Philosophy" (1792, Russian translations 1799 and 1812) and "System of Chemical Knowledge" (vols. 1-2, 1801-1802). Foreign honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (since 1802).
\u003e William Herschel
Biography of William Herschel (1738-1781)
Short biography:
Place of Birth: Hanover, Braunschweig-Luneburg, Holy Roman Empire
A place of death: Slough, Buckinghamshire, England
- English astronomer: biography, photo, discoverer of the planet Uranus, reflex telescope, double stars, nebulae, the size of the Milky Way.
At the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries, knowledge of astronomy about space was limited to the solar system. It was not known what the stars are, how they are distributed in outer space, how much is the distance between them. The possibility of a more detailed study of the structure of the Universe using more powerful telescopes is associated with the activities carried out in this direction by the English astronomer William Herschel.
Frederick is born William Herschel in Hanover on November 15, 1738. His father, a military musician, Isaac Herschel, and his mother, Anna Ilse Morizen, were from Moravia, which they had to leave and move to Germany. An intellectual atmosphere reigned in the family, and the future scientist himself received a rather versatile, but not systematic education. Judging by the "biographical note", letters and diary of Wilhelm himself, the memoirs of his sister Caroline, William Herschel was a very hardworking and enthusiastic person. Being engaged in mathematics, philosophy and astronomy, he showed remarkable talents for the exact sciences. This extraordinary man was gifted with musical talent and at the age of 14 he began to play in the military band of the regiment in Hanover. After serving four years in the Hanoverian regiment, in 1757 he went to England, where his brother Yakov had previously moved.
Being poor, Herschel earns money in London by rewriting sheet music. In 1766 he moved to the city of Bath, where he became a famous performer, conductor and music teacher and acquired a certain position in society. Music seems to him to be too simple an occupation, and the craving for natural science and self-education attracts him to the exact sciences and a deeper knowledge of the world. Studying the mathematical foundations of music, he gradually switched to mathematics and astronomy.
He acquired a number of renowned books on optics and astronomy, and such works as The Complete Optical System by Robert Smith and Astronomy by James Ferguson became his main reference books. Then, in 1773, he first saw the starry sky through a telescope, the focal length of which was 75 cm. Such a small magnification did not satisfy the researcher at all and, having bought all the necessary materials and tools, he independently made a mirror for the telescope.
Despite significant difficulties, in the same year William Herschel made a reflector that had a focal length of more than 1.5 m. He himself manually polished the mirrors, working on his brainchild up to 16 hours a day. Herschel created a special machine for such processing only 15 years later. The work was not only laborious, but also very dangerous. Once while making a blank of the mirror, an explosion occurred in the smelting furnace.
His brother Alexander and his younger sister Carolina always helped him in his work. Hard, selfless work was rewarded good results and mirrors made of an alloy of tin and copper turned out to be of high quality and made it possible to see round images of stars.
According to the American astronomer C. Whitney, the Herschel family completely transformed from musicians to astronomers from 1773 to 1782.
Herschel conducted his first survey of the starry sky in 1775. He still made his living by music, but his passion was watching the starry sky. In his free time from music lessons, he made mirrors for telescopes, gave concerts in the evening, and again watched the stars at night. Herschel suggested new method "Star shards", which made it possible to count the number of stars in certain parts of the sky.
Observing the sky at night on March 13, 1781, Herschel observed an unusual phenomenon. Studying the stars adjacent to the constellation Gemini, he noticed one star that was larger than all the others. He visually compared her with H Gemini and another small star located in the square between the constellations Auriga and Gemini and saw that she was really larger than any of them. Herschel decided it was a comet. The large object had a pronounced disk and deviated from the ecliptic. The scientist reported the comet to other astronomers and continued observing it. Later, famous scientists - Academician of the Paris Academy of Sciences P. Laplace and Academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences D.I. Lexel, - they calculated the orbit of this object and proved that Wilhelm Herschel discovered a new planet, which is located behind Saturn. This planet was named Uranus, it was 60 times larger than the Earth and removed at a distance of 3 billion km. from the sun. Opening new planet brought fame and glory to Herschel. It was the very first planet that scientists managed to discover.
Just nine months after the discovery of the planet Uranus, on December 7, 1781, William Herschel was elected a member of the Royal Astronomical Society of London, he received his doctorate from the University of Oxford and the gold medal of the Royal Society of London. He was elected an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy in 1789.
This event marked the beginning of his career. King George III, who himself had an interest in astronomy, gave him the post of Astronomer Royal in 1782, with an income of £ 200 a year. The king allocated funds for the construction of an observatory in the town of Slow, near Windsor. With his usual enthusiasm, Herschel began astronomical observations. The scientist's biographer, Arago, wrote that he left his observatory only in order to report to the royal society on the results of his selfless work.
Herschel devotes a lot of time to improving telescope designs. He removed the second small mirror from the usual design, which significantly improved the brightness of the resulting image. He conducted his work in the direction of increasing the diameter of mirrors. In 1789, a giant telescope was assembled, which had a tube 12 meters long, and a mirror diameter of 122 cm.The capabilities of this telescope were surpassed only in 1845, when the astronomer from Ireland Parsons created an even larger apparatus, the length of which reached 18 meters, and the diameter mirrors - 183 cm.
The capabilities of the new telescope allowed Herschel to make the discovery of two satellites of the planet Saturn and two satellites of Uranus. Wilhelm Herschel is credited with the discovery of several new celestial bodies at once, but his most outstanding discoveries are not only in this.
Even before Herschel's studies, dozens of binary stars were known to exist. They were considered a random approach of stars, and there was no information about their prevalence in the vastness of the Universe. Exploring various areas of stellar space, Herschel discovered more than 400 such objects. He conducted research to measure the distance between them, studied the apparent brightness and color of the stars. Some stars that were previously thought to be binaries turned out to be composed of three or four objects. Based on the observations, the scientist concluded that double and multiple stars are a system of physically connected stars that revolve around a single center of gravity in full accordance with the law of universal gravitation.
For the first time in the history of astronomy, William Herschel was engaged in systematic observations of binary stars. Since ancient times, two nebulae have been known to mankind - a nebula in the constellation Orion and in the constellation Andromeda, which could be seen without special optics. In the 18th century, many new nebulae were discovered with the help of powerful telescopes. The philosopher Kant and astronomer Lambert considered the nebulae to be star systems similar to the Milky Way, but remote from the Earth at great distances, because of which it is impossible to distinguish individual stars.
Using the power of his constantly improving telescopes, Herschel discovered and studied new nebulae. The catalog compiled by him and published in 1786 described about 2,500 such objects. He not only looked for new nebulae, but also studied their nature. Thanks to powerful telescopes, it became clear that the nebula is a cluster of individual stars significantly distant from our solar system... Sometimes the nebula turned out to be a single planet surrounded by a ring of fog. Other nebulae could not be separated into individual stars, even using a telescope with a 122-centimeter mirror.
Initially, Herschel believed that all nebulae are clusters of individual stars, and those that cannot be seen are very far away and decompose into individual stars using a more powerful telescope. But he admitted that some of the existing nebulae could be independent star systems located outside Milky way... The study of nebulae showed their complexity and diversity.
Continuing tirelessly with his observations, William Herschel came to the conclusion that some of the nebulae could not be decomposed into individual stars, because they consist of a more rarefied substance, which he called a luminous liquid.
The scientist concluded that stars and nebulous matter are widespread in the universe. The role of this substance and its participation in the formation of stars was interesting. The hypothesis of the formation of stellar systems from matter scattered in space was put forward in 1755. Wilhelm Herschel put forward an original hypothesis that nebulae that do not decompose into separate stars are the initial stage in the process of star formation. The nebula gradually thickens and forms either a single star, initially surrounded by a hazy shell, or a cluster of several stars.
Kant assumed that all the stars that make up the Milky Way were formed at the same time, and Herschel was the first to express the idea that stars can be of different ages, their formation is continuous and continues at the present time.
This idea did not find support and understanding, and the idea of \u200b\u200ba one-time formation of all stars prevailed in science for a long time. And only in the second half of the last century, as a result of the achievements of astronomy, especially the work of Soviet scientists, was the difference in the age of the stars proved. Many stars have been studied, ranging in age from several million to billions of years. Modern science in general patterns confirmed Herschel's hypotheses and assumptions about the nature of nebulae. It was found that gas and dust nebulae are widespread in our galaxy and other galaxies. The nature of these formations turned out to be much more complicated than the scientist could have assumed.
He correctly believed, like Kant and Lambert, that individual nebulae are systems of stars and are located too far away, but over time it will be possible to see their individual stars using more sophisticated instruments.
In the 18th century, many stars were found to be moving. With the help of calculations, Herschel was able to prove the movement of the solar system in the direction of the constellation Hercules.
He considered his main goal to study the structure of the Milky Way system, to determine its size and shape. He carried out activities in this direction for several decades. He did not know the size of the stars, the distances between them, from the location, but assumed that all the stars have approximately the same luminosity, are evenly spaced and the distances between them are approximately equal, and the sun is located to the center of this system. Using his giant telescope, he calculated the number of stars in a particular area of \u200b\u200bthe sky and thus tried to determine how far and in which direction the Milky Way galaxy stretches. He was not aware of the phenomenon of absorption of light in outer space, and he believed that a giant telescope would allow us to see the most distant stars of our galaxy.
Today it is known that stars have different luminosities and are unevenly distributed in space. And the size of the Galaxy makes it impossible to see its boundaries even with a giant telescope. Therefore, Herschel could not correctly determine the shape, size of the Galaxy and the position of the Sun in it. The dimensions of the Milky Way calculated by him turned out to be significantly underestimated.
Along with this, he was engaged in other research in the field of astronomy. Herschel was able to unravel the nature of the sun's radiation and determined that it contains heat, light and chemical rays invisible to the eye. With this, he foresaw the discovery of infrared and ultraviolet radiation beyond the solar spectrum.
Starting his work in the field of astronomy as an amateur, he devoted all his free time to his hobby. For a long time, musical activity remained a source of funds for him. Only in his old age did Herschel receive sufficient financial resources to carry out his scientific research.
This man was a combination of excellent human qualities and the talent of a real scientist. Herschel was a patient and consistent observer, a purposeful and tireless researcher, a deep thinker. At the very peak of his fame, he still remained for those around him a simple, sincere and charming person, which testifies to his noble and deep nature.
He was able to pass on his scientific passion and enthusiasm for research activities to his relatives and friends. His sister Carolina provided great assistance in scientific research, who with his help studied astronomy and mathematics, processed his brother's scientific observations, prepared for publication catalogs of nebulae and star clusters that he discovered and described. Carolina discovered 8 comets and 14 new nebulae through her independent research. She was recognized by astronomers in England and Europe, and was elected an honorary member of the Royal Astronomical Society of London and the Royal Academy of Ireland. Caroline was the first female researcher to be awarded such titles.
Many researchers believe that Joseph Lagrange is not a French, but an Italian mathematician. And they adhere to this opinion by no means without reason. After all, the future explorer was born in Turin, in 1736. At the time of his baptism, the boy was named Giuseppe Ludovico. His father held a high political position in the governing apparatus of Sardinia, and also belonged to the noble class. The mother came from a wealthy family of a doctor.
Family of the future mathematician
Therefore, in the beginning, the family in which Joseph Louis Lagrange was born was quite wealthy. But the father of the family was inept, and, nevertheless, a very stubborn businessman. Therefore, they were soon on the brink of ruin. In the future, Lagrange expresses a very interesting opinion about this life circumstance that befell his family. He believes that if his family continued to live a rich and prosperous life, then perhaps Lagrange would never have had a chance to connect his fate with mathematics.
The book that turned life upside down
The eleventh child of his parents was Joseph Louis Lagrange. His biography, even in this respect, can be called successful: after all, all his other brothers and sisters died in early childhood. Lagrange's father was disposed to ensure that his son received an education in the field of jurisprudence. Lagrange himself did not mind at first. He first studied at Turin College, where he was very fascinated foreign languages and where the future mathematician first gets acquainted with the works of Euclid and Archimedes.
However, there comes that fateful moment when Lagrange for the first time catches the eye of Galileo's work entitled "On the Advantages of the Analytical Method." Joseph Louis Lagrange was incredibly interested in this book - perhaps it was she who turned his whole further destiny... Almost instantly, for a young scientist, jurisprudence and foreign languages \u200b\u200bremained in the shadow of mathematical science.
According to some sources, Lagrange was engaged in mathematics on his own. According to others, he attended classes at the Turin School. Already at the age of 19 (and according to some sources - at 17), Joseph Louis Lagrange was engaged in teaching mathematics at the university. This was due to the fact that the most best students countries at that time had the opportunity to teach.
First work: in the footsteps of Leibniz and Bernoulli
So, from that time on, mathematics became the main field of Lagrange. In 1754, his first research was published. The scientist designed it in the form of a letter to the Italian scientist Fagnano dei Tosca. However, Lagrange makes a mistake here. Not having scientific advisor and preparing on his own, he subsequently discovers: his research has already been carried out. The conclusions drawn by him belonged to Leibniz and Johann Bernoulli. Joseph Louis Lagrange even feared accusations of plagiarism. But his fears were completely in vain. And there were great achievements ahead for the mathematician.
Acquaintance with Euler
In the years 1755-1756, the young scientist sent several of his developments to the famous, which he highly appreciated. And in 1759, Lagrange sent him another very important study. It was devoted to methods for solving isoperimetric problems, over which Euler struggled for many years. The experienced scientist was very pleased with the discoveries of the young Lagrange. He even refused to publish some of his developments in this area until Joseph Louis Lagrange published his own work.
In 1759, thanks to Euler's proposal, Lagrange became a foreign member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences. Here Euler showed a little cunning: after all, he really wanted Lagrange to live as close to him as possible, and thus the young scientist could move to Berlin.
Work and overwork
Lagrange was engaged not only in research in the field of mathematics, mechanics and astronomy. He also created a scientific community, which later developed into the sciences of Turin. But the price for the fact that Joseph Louis Lagrange developed a huge number of theories in precise areas and became at that time the greatest mathematician and astronomer in the world, were bouts of depression.
I began to remind myself of constant overwork. Doctors in 1761 announced that they were not going to be responsible for Lagrange's health if he did not moderate his research fervor and stabilize his work schedule. The mathematician did not show willfulness and obeyed the recommendations of doctors. His health has stabilized. But depression did not leave him until the end of his life.
Research in astronomy
In 1762, an interesting competition was announced by the Paris Academy of Sciences. To participate in it, it was necessary to submit a work on the movement of the moon. And here Lagrange manifests himself as a researcher-astronomer. In 1763, he sent his work on the libration of the moon to the commission for consideration. And the article itself arrives at the Academy shortly before the arrival of Lagrange himself. The fact is that the mathematician had to travel to London, during which he fell seriously ill and was forced to stay in Paris.
But even here Lagrange found great benefit for himself: after all, in Paris he managed to get to know another great scientist - D'Alembert. In the French capital, Lagrange receives an award for his research on the libration of the moon. And one more prize is awarded to the scientist - two years later he was awarded for the study of two satellites of Jupiter.
High post
In 1766 Lagrange returned to Berlin and received an offer to become president of the Academy of Sciences and head of its physics and mathematics department. Many Berlin scholars welcomed Lagrange very warmly into their society. He managed to establish strong friendships with mathematicians Lambert, Johann Bernoulli. But there were also ill-wishers in this society. One of them was Castillon, who was three decades older than Lagrange. But after a while, their relationship improved. Lagrange married a cousin of Castillon named Vittoria. However, their marriage was childless and unhappy. The often ill wife died in 1783.
The main book of the scientist
In total, the scientist spent more than twenty years in Berlin. The most productive work is considered "Analytical Mechanics" by Lagrange. This study was written during his maturity. There are only a few great scientists whose legacy would include such a fundamental work. "Analytical Mechanics" is comparable to Newton's "Beginnings", as well as " Pendulum clock»Huygens. It also formulates the famous "Lagrange Principle", the more complete name of which is "D'Alembert-Lagrange Principle". It belongs to the sphere general equations speakers.
Moving to Paris. The sunset of life
In 1787 Lagrange moved to Paris. He was completely satisfied with the work in Berlin, but this had to be done for the reason that the situation of foreigners after the death of Frederick II in the city gradually deteriorated. In Paris, a royal audience was held in honor of Lagrange, and the mathematician even received an apartment in the Louvre. But at the same time, he begins to have a serious attack of depression. In 1792, the scientist married a second time, and now the union was happy.
At the end of his life, the scientist produces many more works. The last work he planned to undertake was the revision of Analytical Mechanics. But the scientist failed to do this. Joseph Louis Lagrange died on April 10, 1813. His quotes, especially one of the last, characterize his entire life: "I did my job ... I have never hated anyone and have never done any harm to anyone." The death of the scientist, like life, was calm - he left with a sense of accomplishment.
The year is 1789.
In 1789, "Traite de chimie" was published, the first textbook of modern chemistry - a unique phenomenon of its kind in the history of sciences: the entire textbook was compiled from the works of the author himself. The composition of the atmosphere, the theory of combustion, the formation of oxides, acids and salts, the analysis and synthesis of water, the structure of organic bodies, organic analysis - all this is a short collection of Lavoisier's memoirs. An accurate understanding of simple bodies, the basic law of chemistry, which turned any chemical problem into algebraic equation, the method of quantitative research was established by him. The illustrations for the publication were made personally by Maria Lavoisier, a student of the famous artist Louis David. This was the first chemistry course from which phlogiston was excluded as a chemical agent.
“In undertaking this work, I had no other goal than to develop in more detail the report I made at a public meeting of the Academy of Sciences in April 1787“ On the need to transform and improve the chemical nomenclature, ”says Lavoisier in the preface.
On the night of July 12-13, 1789, the alarmed rulers of gunpowder and saltpeter Lavoisier and Cloix secretly sent part of the gunpowder reserves from the Arsenal to what, in their opinion, was the most reliable refuge - the Bastille.
On the same night, the tax farmers received amazing news: unknown persons set fire to the offices of the General Purchase at all the outposts, from the Saint-Antoine suburb to the suburb of Saint-Honoré. By morning, the offices were burned out, and goods began to pass to Paris duty-free.
In August 1789, there was a rumor that the managers of the arsenal were taking gunpowder out of Paris in order to sell it to the enemies of France. The crowd surrounded the arsenal, demanding the arrest of Lavoisier and Lefauchet, his comrade. They were captured and taken to the Hotel de Ville. Here Lavoisier easily proved the falsehood of the accusation, and the city government decided to release him. But the crowd did not calm down, flooded the town hall, wanted to kill the Marquis Lasalle, who signed the order for the release of the managers. The Marquis hid, and Lafayette had difficulty persuading the crowd.
The first period of the revolution, the period of reforms, passed relatively calmly.
Lavoisier participated in the election of deputies to the Legislative Assembly in Blois, as one of the representatives of the local aristocracy, and compiled a "notebook" (cahier) of this class: in it the aristocracy renounced its privileges, demanded equalization of taxes that should be levied on all persons and possessions according to their income and appointed only with the free consent of the nation. They also demanded freedom of the press, personal inviolability, the elimination of police arbitrariness, workshops and corporations that “do not allow citizens to use their abilities,” etc. In a word, the “notebook” was compiled in the broadest reformist spirit.
Around this time, in Paris, on the initiative of Mirabeau, Lavoisier, Condorcet, Siayes and others, the Society of 1789, a moderate party with the task of developing, defending and disseminating the principles of a free constitution, was formed. in the end, he lost all popularity. Belonging to him was even considered a sign of bad civic feelings and subsequently being in the "Society" served as sufficient reason to get on the list of suspects.
Lavoisier regularly visited this Society and at one time was its secretary. Here, in August 1790, he reported his "Reflections on banknotes", full of formidable omens of rising inflation.
1790 - 1791.
In 1790, the National Assembly instructed the Academy of Sciences to work out a rational system of measures and weights on certain and simple grounds that could be adopted by all nations. At first, they wanted to organize an international commission, but, not meeting support from other states, they decided to act on their own. Lavoisier was appointed secretary and treasurer of the Commission for Weights and Measures, in the works of which the best scientists of that time took part: Laplace, Borda, Lagrange, Coulomb and others.
Lavoisier and Guyot were tasked with determining the weight in void per unit volume of distilled water at 0 ° C. Subsequently, together with Borda, Lavoisier determined the expansion of copper and platinum for the device of a normal meter.
Lavoisier in his laboratory studies the composition of the air exhaled by a person in a calm state.
Sketch by Marie Lavoisier.
On March 20, 1791, the National Assembly, yielding to the persistent demands of the people, annulled the agreement with the tax farmers, setting retroactively the date of termination of the agreement - July 1, 1789. House of Ransom: to watch all those fat faces of tax farmers at the green table when they learn the decree of the Assembly ... They, of course, will try to imitate other aristocrats and take abroad everything that they have taken from us. "
In 1791, Lavoisier sought the appointment to the post of chief of national customs, then chief of the import duties of Paris, which were previously under the jurisdiction of the Otkup. This attempt to remain in the Otkup apparatus failed. He was appointed one of the commissioners of the National Treasury.
Meanwhile, there was a reorganization of the Office of Gunpowder and Saltpeter, and Lavoisier lost his post of steward. He obtained only permission to temporarily keep his apartment and laboratory in the Arsenal.
What were the views of Lavoisier and his supporters at that time, can be clearly judged by the content of the surviving letter addressed to him in America by the famous scientist and conservative politician Franklin.
“... After I have told you about what is happening in chemistry, I should also inform you about our political revolution; we consider it already accomplished and accomplished irrevocably; there is, however, a very weak aristocratic party, which makes futile efforts. The Democratic Party has on its side both numbers, philosophy, and scientists. Moderate people, who have remained cool in this general ferment, believe that circumstances have taken us too far, and it is very sad that we had to arm the people and all citizens; they also believe that it is not political to give power to those who must obey, and that they have to fear opposition to the establishment of a new constitution from those for whom it was created.
"We are very sorry that at this moment you are so far from France, you would be our guide and you would show us the boundaries that we should not have crossed."
At that time, Lavoisier was finishing his long-begun work "On the territorial wealth of France", which is one of the most outstanding classical works on statistics, where for the first time at least approximately statistically substantiated numerical data on the country's resources were given. as one of the main sources for judging the economic state of France on the eve of the revolution.
In this work Lavoisier, for the first time clearly shows the importance of the third estate in comparison with the nobility. The report received accolades and was almost immediately published as a separate brochure. However, neither the accolades of the National Assembly, nor the refusal of remuneration, could in the least soften the hatred with which his name of the businessman was already surrounded.
Marat, in his newspaper "Friend of the People" of January 27, 1791, gave Lavoisier the following characterization:
“I inform you about the luminary of charlatans, Monsieur Lavoisier, the son of a rascal, a half-trained chemist, a trainee of the Geneva stock exchange, general tax collector, manager of gunpowder and saltpeter, administrator of the loan office, secretary of the king, member of the Academy of Sciences.
Would you believe that this gentleman, receiving forty thousand livres of rent and having no reason for public gratitude for the imprisonment of Paris, for stopping the circulation of air through the wall, which cost the poor thirty-three million, and for the removal of gunpowder from the Arsenal to the Bastille on the night of July 12-13, that this cunning, like a demon, gentleman can be elected as administrator of the Paris Department? "
While in France Lavoisier was severely attacked by the Jacobins, his English opponent, an opponent of his new chemical doctrines, J. Priestley, caused a storm of indignation among British reactionaries with his ardent and sincere adherence to the ideas of the French Revolution.
In September 1791, the government established the Arts and Crafts Consulting Bureau, into which representatives of various academic institutions and societies, including Lavoisier, were introduced. This Bureau was entrusted with the consideration of various proposals and technical inventions, the number of which increased significantly at that time. In addition, the Bureau had to award awards and prizes to individual inventors. Thus, the establishment of the Bureau was a natural consequence of the expansion of the functions and tasks of the Academy of Sciences in France during the era of the Revolution.
Lavoisier was given the role of compiling numerous reports and reviews on a wide variety of issues, and he was also entrusted with the development of a vocational education system.
Study of the composition of the air exhaled by a person during work.
Sketch by Marie Lavoisier.
Although the ransom was abolished, the attacks of the revolutionary newspapers on the farmers did not stop. Soon, Lavoisier lost his job as a gunpowder manager, whom he valued mainly because of the laboratory set up in the arsenal. However, the government respected his request, leaving behind the premises and laboratory.
More and more convinced of his powerlessness, meeting with suspicion from all sides, accusations of lack of civic feelings, he himself decided to get rid of his posts, especially since they took away from him almost all the time. "I am beginning to feel the weight of an immense burden that lies on me," he writes at the end of 1791.
1792 year.
In the winter of 1792, Lavoisier and Ayuy determined the density of water and worked out a unit of weight, and also studied the comparative expansion of copper and platinum for the construction of a model meter.
In February, Lavoisier withdrew from the Treasury. His activities at the Loan Office, related to the purchase and speculation of confiscated real estate that were submitted to national auctions, also aroused strong attacks. Soon he was again offered the position of arsenal manager, but he refused, foreseeing failure. The presentiments did not disappoint: a few days later the commissar of one of the city sections appeared in the arsenal, sealed the papers, and arrested the managers. One of them, Lefoshe the father, took his own life, others were released by the National Assembly. This time, he had to permanently move his home and laboratory from the Arsenal, and he settled in house number 243 on Boulevard Madeleine.
On June 15, 1792, Louis 16 personally suggested that "a member of the Academy of Sciences, Cavalier Lavoisier" take over the post of Minister of State Property in the new cabinet.
It is curious that at the very moment when the king decided to go on the offensive to pacify the Revolution, his eyes turned to the scientist as a suitable candidate for the post of one of the ministers.
Lavoisier refused this invitation.
“Sovereign! - he writes. - By no means out of cowardice, so little inherent in my character, not because of a lack of interest in a common cause, or even - which I would like to emphasize especially - because of the consciousness of my insufficient strength, I am forced to abandon that sign of trust with which Your Majesty honored me by offering me the post of Minister of State Property.
I am not a Jacobin or a Feuillant. I do not belong to any society, or to any club. Accustomed to weighing everything on the scales of my conscience and my mind, I could never agree to give my views to the discretion of any party. I swore with a sincere heart of loyalty to both the constitution that you adopted and the powers given to the people, and, finally, loyalty to you, sir, the constitutional king of the French, to you, whose misfortunes and virtues are not well understood.
Convinced that the Legislature has gone beyond what the constitution has given it, what can a constitutional minister do? Unable to reconcile his principles and his conscience, he would vainly appeal for obedience to the law, which all Frenchmen took upon themselves in a solemn oath. Resisting by means of the methods given to Your Majesty by the Constitution, which he could advise you, would be perceived as a crime. And I would die a victim of my duty, and my intransigence would even become a source of new troubles.
Sovereign, allow me to continue my labors and my existence for the benefit of the state, occupying less high positions, where I could, however, serve with greater benefit, probably more lasting.
Dedicating my activities to public education, I will try to continue to explain to the people their duties. As a soldier and citizen, I will bear arms in defense of the law, in defense of the safety of the permanent representative of the French people.
I remain, sir, with deep respect for Your Majesty, the lowest and most humble servant
Lavoisier ".
In 1792, Furcroix, wanting to prove his revolutionary zeal, suggested that the Academy exclude from its midst members who had emigrated abroad and were considered enemies of the fatherland. This proposal aroused great excitement. Many of the academics spoke out against him, saying that their business was to do science, not politics. Finally, the geometer Cousin found a formula that satisfied everyone: to grant the ministry the removal of those members whom it considers enemies of the revolution, while the academy "will, as usual, indulge in more intellectual pursuits."
The Paris Academy of Sciences continued to meet regularly, although its composition noticeably thinned: the representatives of the nobility who usually attended the meetings either emigrated or were expelled from Paris. However, the largest scientists regularly appeared: Ayui, Cousin, Coulomb, Baume, Cassini, Lalande, Lamarck, Laplace, Lagrange, Borda, Berthollet, Furcroix, Vic d'Azir and others.
In April, Furcroix informed the Academy that the Medical Society had excluded from its membership, firstly, all emigrants and, secondly, all generally recognized counterrevolutionaries, and he also proposed to expel from the Academy of Sciences some of its members "known for their lack of citizenship." However, the Academy in a mocking manner rejected this offer.
Meanwhile, in the circles of the Convention, tendencies towards the closure of all kinds of scientific societies and all the academies in Paris and in the provinces. These trends were powered by two opposing sources. On the one hand, many feared that these institutions could serve as centers for uniting groups hostile to the new regime. On the other hand, many personalities and especially artists (led by the famous Louis David) believed that the development of free painting and sculpture was harmed by patented art academies. David proposed to destroy these academies "in the name of love for art, especially in the name of love for youth."
Through influential figures - Lacanal, Gregoire and others, Lavoisier waged a desperate struggle to preserve the Academy of Sciences. And in a letter to the deputy of the Convention, Geometer Arbogast, he emphasizes: “Foreign powers do not expect anything better than to take advantage of this circumstance in order to transplant science and art to themselves, but it can be noted, to the credit of French scientists, that their love for the homeland remained unshakable and no no one who would not indignantly reject such offers if they were made to them. "
These last words belonged primarily to Lavoisier himself. There is no doubt that he - the greatest expert of his time on gunpowder - could easily find himself shelter in any foreign country, and money and help from outside would have ensured an escape.
But Lavoisier, perhaps out of fear of finally losing his fortune and abandoning his wonderful laboratory to the mercy of fate, did not think about emigration.
1793 year.
At the end of May 1793, Lavoisier, together with Borda, measured the thermal expansion of copper and platinum for the standard meter. For this purpose, in the garden of the new dwelling on Boulevard Madeleine, pillars were installed for the apparatus, which he had previously designed together with Laplace. The cautious Laplace at that time withdrew from all affairs and retired to the small town of Melun, not far from Paris, where, in peace and quiet, he began his outstanding work - "Exposition of the System of the World".
Meanwhile, Lavoisier finished his "Reflections on public education", initiated by the deputy of the Convention metallurgist Assenfratz, and reported them to the Consulting Bureau. Among the numerous projects of the public education system proposed by various leaders of the Revolution from Talleyrand to Lepelletier, Lavoisier's project occupies an exceptional place. At the beginning of his report, he himself noted: "... in all the plans for the organization of national public education presented to you, the industry, apparently, was completely forgotten."
Lavoisier's report was supposed to be specifically about vocational education, but in fact it covers the entire education system as a whole.
Lavoisier's public education plan tells how to organize, from early childhood, polytechnic educationhow to connect it with the industry, with social sciences... And because the views of Assenfratz and Lavoisier so closely affected the interests of the masses, the bill was the only one in the field of public education, which was supported from outside by the working class.
The project was, apparently, drawn up by Lavoisier, in fact, without the participation of Assenfratz, but the latter repeatedly and sharply insisted on the need to organize professional education. The thoughts expressed by Assenfratz in his speech at the Jacobin Club, and his "Brief Reflections on the Popular Education of a Republican" are very close to the ideas of Lavoisier, although much less specific.
It is known that on September 15, 1793, a grandiose deputation from popular societies, sections and the Commune of Paris appeared at the Jacobin Club.
The delegation made the following speech: “We do not want education to be the exclusive property of the wealthy caste that has enjoyed the privileges for too long, we want to make it the property of all fellow citizens ...
Instead educational institutions, which were nothing more than the original schools for the training of priests, we ask you to set up gymnasiums where the republican youth could receive the knowledge necessary in various crafts and industries; institutes where she could study the elementary foundations of the exact sciences and languages; lyceums, where a genius could develop and properly direct his powers. "
The deputation went to the Convention, where it repeated its request. And on the same day, a decree was adopted, establishing basically a system of three successive levels of educational institutions in accordance with the project of Lavoisier. Moreover, in the second stage, the average professional education... Nobody even mentioned the name of Lavoisier then, and Lacanal said that this project was in line with the plan of the Committee of Public Education.
However, just two days later, the decree of the Convention was canceled partly as impracticable in this year partly due to the absence of some deputies on 15 September. Following this, numerous discussions began in the Convention, in which Lavoisier's project did not appear at all.
Until now, the whole story with the deputation and the resolution of the Convention remains not entirely clear. It is not known who was the initiator of this case and what was his true
In August 1793, by decree of the Convention, the Academy was finally destroyed. The academics did everything to avoid death: among other things, they ordered the carpets to be removed from the meeting room, because "the carpets represent attributes that cannot be tolerated under the republican regime." But even this act of civic valor was not appreciated.
In vain Lavoisier appealed to the Committee of Public Education, pointing out what losses would be caused by the scattering of academics, the termination of the work begun, such as "Comparative Anatomy" Vic d "Azir, the mineralogical map of Demare, and others. "Only hoping for the honesty of society, they chose this career, honorable, but unprofitable. Many of them are eighty-year-old helpless elders, many have lost their health and strength in travels and labors undertaken at their own expense for the benefit of the state; French honesty does not allow the nation to deceive them. hope; they are entitled to at least the pension given to every official. "
Advanced gas meter.
Drawing by Maria Lavoisier for " Initial course chemistry "
In the same year, the deputy Bourdon demanded in the Convention the immediate arrest and trial of the former participants of the ransom, without waiting for the deadline set for the liquidation of the cases.
The liquidation commission was supposed to finish its work by January 1, 1793, but "did not have time" to draw up a report by this date, and in June the Convention, which had lost patience, ordered to seal the cash register and the Otkupa papers. The box office turned out to be only twenty million livres, and even then in almost completely depreciated banknotes.
In September, all seals from the Otkupa documents were again removed, and the tax dealers were asked to complete the balance by April 1, 1794. At that time, the question of liquidating the Otkup was taken up by one of the former employees of the Otkup apparatus, a deputy of the Convention, A. Dupin.
In mid-November, the Convention, in connection with the discussion of the situation of various private companies, again reconsidered the issue of the Buyoff. Bourdon, exclaimed: “For the hundredth time they are talking about the report of the general tax farmers. I demand that these social leeches be arrested, and if they do not submit their report in a month, let the Convention hand them over to the sword of the law. " This proposal met with universal approval, and an order was immediately issued for the arrest of all former tax collectors and all persons who had ever been tax collectors.
Having learned during a meeting of the Advisory Bureau about the resolution of the Convention, Lavoisier did not return home and went into hiding for four days.
On November 28 (Freemer 8), 1793, he was arrested under unknown circumstances and taken to prison.
The ancient monastery of Port-Royal, renamed Port-Libre and temporarily transformed into a place of imprisonment, did not in the least resemble a prison, and the imprisoned tax farmers enjoyed considerable freedom in it. But isolated from the archives of Otkupa, they had no opportunity to start compiling the required report.
Meanwhile, the Commission for Weights and Measures sent a petition to the Committee of Public Security, signed by Borda and Ayuy, to release Lavoisier to continue work on determining new weights and measures.
The Public Security Committee left Borda and Ayui's petition unanswered, and two days later, the Public Education Committee (which at that time included Guiton de Morveaux, Furcroix, Arbogast, Romm and others) decided to immediately remove the following weights and measures from the Commission. persons: Borda, Lavoisier, Laplace, Coulomb, Brisson and Delambre.
A few days before the arrest of the tax farmers, Furcroix demanded the appointment of a commission for the "revival" of the Lyceum of Arts and Sciences. The Lyceum was renamed the Republican Lyceum, and from the list of its hundred founders, seventy-three, including Lavoisier, were excluded as counter-revolutionaries.
In December 1793, the Convention considered the application of the tax farmers, who demanded that they be admitted to the ransom documents for the delivery of the report. The convention decided to transfer the tax farmers directly to the ransom house and there and keep them under arrest until the report is handed over. It is characteristic that only now a decision was made to impose sequestration on all movable and immovable property of tax farmers. Lavoisier's apartment and laboratory were sealed.
Lavoisier was taken home, where, in his presence, representatives of the Committee of Public Education, Guiton de Morveau and Furcroix, seized all items related to the Commission for Weights and Measures. After a while, the premises of Lavoisier's laboratory were opened again at the request of Marie Lavoisier to remove his manuscripts on physics and chemistry, prepared for publication, as well as to extract materials by voluntary subscription to a loan.
At the suggestion of his colleagues, Lavoisier took upon himself the compilation of the ransom report and, most importantly, the answer to all the grave accusations raised against the General ransom, thus becoming a voluntary lawyer for the ransomrs.
Used excerpts from the book by Ya. G. Dorfman "Lavoisier"
And:
MA Engelhardt “Antoine Laurent Lavoisier. His life and scientific activity. " Biographical sketch.
Yu.I. Soloviev "History of Chemistry"
Maximilian Robespierre “Speech at the Convention on May 7, 1794 (18th Floreale of the II year of the republic)”.
Materials of Wikipedia, TSB.
Degree measurements are geodetic measurements of the length of the Earth's meridian arc to determine the shape of the Earth and its polar and equatorial radii.
People learned that the Earth has the shape of a ball in ancient times. The first assumptions about the sphericity of the earth were made by Pythagoras around 530 BC.
It is also known that even in the XI-X centuries BC. in China, great work was carried out to determine the size of the Earth. Unfortunately, no detailed information about these works has been preserved.
For the first time in history, the dimensions of the Earth were determined by the Greek scientist Eratosthenes, who lived in Egypt. Eratosthenes measured the length of the arc of the earth's meridian between the city of Alexandria and the city of Siena (Assuan region) and obtained the circumference of the Earth equal to 39,500 km, and the value of the radius of 6,320 km. Eratosthenes received very approximate results, but quite satisfactory for that time.
In the 7th century A.D. according to the measurements of Arab scientists, the circumference of the Earth was obtained equal to 40 255 km, and the radius - 6 406 km.
Comparing the results of determining the size of the Earth, carried out by Eratosthenes and Arab scientists, it is easy to see that the differences between them are very significant. All this is due primarily to the fact that linear measurements were made by primitive methods of very low accuracy.
In Europe, the Frenchman Jean Fernel was the first to measure the length of the meridian arc between Paris and Amiens in 1528. For this, he designed a special counter, which was attached to the wheel of the carriage. After driving on the road from Paris to Amiens, he calculated the distance between the points. In his calculations, Fernel was greatly mistaken, his data were very approximate. He did not take into account the fact that the carriage was moving along winding roads, and not in a straight line.
For a long time, scientists puzzled over how and how to accurately measure the length of the meridian arc, until triangulation came to the rescue.
In 1553 the mathematician G. Frisius (Rainer) proposed triangulation. After that, all degree measurements were carried out using triangulation. The triangulation method opened a new era in the study of the shape and size of the Earth.
The Dutch scientist V. Snellius was the first in Europe to carry out degree measurements. Willebrord Snellius was born in the Netherlands in Leiden. His birthday remains unknown, and his year of birth is disputed to this day. Some believe that it was 1580, while others - 1581. His father was a professor of mathematics at Leiden University, and for some time he even taught Hebrew. V. Snellius studied at Leiden University. After graduating from the university, he traveled a lot in Germany, where he met the scientists T. Bryce and I. Kepler. For that time V. Snellius was a widely erudite scientist, equally familiar with mathematics, physics, navigational astronomy and geodesy. In 1613 he became a professor at Leiden University. In 1615, he began to work on degree measurements. Here he first applied the triangulation method in the modern sense of the word. The work lasted two years and was completed in 1617.
Measurements of angles in triangles were carried out with a metal quadrant with a diameter of 70 cm, having degree divisions and equipped with diopters and a sighting tube. With the help of this device it was possible to observe points at a distance of up to 45 km. The angle measurement accuracy was within 4´.
After processing the field measurements, the following data were obtained: the length of the meridian arc of 10 was equal to 107.338 km, and the length of a quarter of the Earth's meridian was 9 660.411 km with a relative error of 3.4%.
In 1624 his book "Tirhus Batavus", a textbook on navigation with navigation tables, was published. In it, he was the first to use the term "loxodromia" - a line on the surface of a ball that intersects the meridians at the same angle (aoxodromia is a line with a constant azimuth).
All of his writings Snellus wrote in Latin, which was international at the time. scientific language... He translated into latin language many mathematical works of his compatriots, which contributed to their dissemination in the scientific world.
The first degree measurements did not satisfy Snell - he decided to repeat his work. Other bases were measured, the accuracy of measuring angles was increased, but he could not complete his work. V. Snellius did not live to a ripe old age, he died on October 30, 1626 in the city of Leiden at the age of 46 years. The work begun by him was completed by his compatriot Mushenbrok a hundred years later.
For modern knowledge, V. Snell's mistake seems large, but for that time the results were good. The main difficulty in his work was that he used short bases and was not able to measure the angles more accurately. Despite the low accuracy of the work, his services to science are great and the main merit is that he was the first to apply the triangulation method for degree measurements. His work brought him worldwide fame.
In the summer of 1669, the Frenchman Jean Picard measured the length of the arc of the meridian between Malvoisiana (near Paris) and Surdon (near Amiens). For his measurements, he used an advanced theodolite. New in Picard's work was that he brought all his measurements to sea level.
According to Picard, the length of the Earth's radius was obtained equal to 6 371.692 km, and the value 10 - 111.212 km.
Scientists have been using Picard's data for almost sixty years. Picard's astronomical and geodetic measurements were of tremendous scientific and practical importance.
In 1683, under the leadership of the director of the Paris Astronomical Observatory, Giovanni Dominico Cassini, measurements of the meridian arc from Dunkirk to Collioure began. The work dragged on for decades.
In 1713 D. Cassini died. The work begun by him was continued by his son Jacques Cassini. In 1718, i.e. after 35 years, the work was completed. According to the calculations of Jacques Cassini, the Earth turned out to be elongated to the poles. As it turned out later, Jacques Cassini made a mistake in the calculations.
To finally be convinced of the true dimensions of the Earth, in 1735 the Paris Academy of Sciences decided to measure the length of the meridian arc in different parts of the globe. It was decided to take measurements in Europe and America.
In 1735, an expedition consisting of academicians Condamine, Bouguer and Gaudin set out for Peru. The expedition was headed by Academician Condamine. The work was completed in 1742. In Peru, the meridian arc was measured with a length of 350 km.
In 1736, an expedition was sent to Lapland, consisting of academicians Monpertuis, Cleraud, Camus, Lemonnier and the Swedish physicist Celsius. In Lapland, it was possible to measure an arc with a length of 100 km.
After processing the field measurements of both expeditions, it was found that the Earth's polar axis is shorter than the equatorial one by 25 km.
On May 8, 1790, the French National Assembly adopted a decree reforming the system of measures. At the same time, two commissions were created. The first commission, headed by the mathematician Lagrange, recommended the decimal system of measures, the second, led by Laplace, recommended taking one forty millionth of the length of the Earth's meridian arc as a unit of length.
On March 26, 1791, the National Assembly approved both proposals.
It was decided to measure the length of the Earth's meridian arc from Dunkarc, located in northern France to Barcelona (Spain). Both cities lie on the same Parisian meridian and are at sea level. The length of the meridian arc was 90 40 ′.
A very laborious job had to be done. It was necessary to observe 115 triangles, two bases and determine 5 astronomical points.
Academicians J. Delambre and Meschen were appointed as the leaders of this work. The work began on June 25, 1792 and was completed in the fall of 1798.
Upon completion of all computational work, J. Delambre received new data on the dimensions of the Earth's ellipsoid. These data were accepted by all European states for further use in geodesy and cartography.
At the same time, a meter length was obtained, equal to 443,296 Parisian lines and a unit of weight - a kilogram.
Mechanic Lenoir made a platinum ruler 100 mm long, 35 mm wide and 25 mm thick. This reference was packaged in a mahogany case covered with red velvet inside.
On June 22, 1799, at a ceremonial meeting of the Academy of Sciences, the transfer of the standard meter and kilogram to the State Archives of France took place. Since then, this standard has been called the "archival meter". On new system measures France completely passed from January 1, 1840.
In the period from 1816 to 1855. under the leadership of the director of the Pulkovo Observatory V.Ya. Struve carried out a great deal of work on degree measurements in Russia.
The length of the meridian arc from Ishmael to Hammerfest (northern Norway) was measured. In the literature, this arc is called the "Struve arc".
The arc has a length of 3000 km and in latitude it has a length of 25020 ′ 08 ″.
In honor of this event in the village. Obelisks have been erected in Novo-Nekrasovka near Izmail and in the town of Hammerfest. The works of V.Ya. Struve are an important contribution of Russian surveyors to world science.