The newer views of Priestley and Lavoisier

Lavoisier and Scientific Revolution: The Oxygen Theory Displaces Air, Fire, Earth, and Water

“…Paris 1, November 1772. (18) It was this discovery contained in a note deposited with the Academy of Sciences in 1772, which was elaborated in detail over the next 15 years and published in detail in his Elements of Chemistry, in 1789 (23,24), that comprises his revolution in chemistry. The final step in the Oxygen Theory was made possible by a set of experiments performed by Cavendish (5).…”

“…To end, I quote again from Lavoisier, "It is easy to see that from the year 1772. I had conceived the whole doctrine of combustion which I have since published" (18).…”

The chemical revolution—The second phase

“…No one today questions Priestley's right as an independent discoverer of oxygen. By similar token, the careful work of Meldrum,McKie,and others (3,4,5) has shown that Lavoisier had his conceptual scheme well developed before he talked with Priestley-some six months before Priestley discovered that his new gas, far from being modified nitrous air, was indeed a pure form of atmospheric air.…”

Optimizing Energy - The Epistemology of Primitive Economic Man

“…As Carpenter (2003a) details, the Chemical Revolution in France at the end of the 18th century witnessed the identification of the major elements of the universe, which encouraged the development of new methods in chemistry and nutrition. Being at the forefront of these studies and associating himself with the 'wrong' crowd during the Reign of Terror, however, Lavoisier was guillotined in 1794 (Grey, 1982;Hartog, 1941).…”