Abstract
THE bicentenary of the birth of Guyton de Morveau recalls the career of a man of science who was a prominent figure in what is, perhaps, the most interesting epoch in the history of science in France, if not in French history itself. Ingenious, versatile and courageous, he engaged in many enterprises and as a man of science had a wide reputation. Born at Dijon on January 4, 1737, Guyton de Morveau was the son of the professor of civil law in that city. He himself was educated for the law at Dijon and Paris, and after he had practised for a short time, his father procured for him at the price of 40,000 francs the appointment of advocate general to the local parliament at Dijon, which he held for twenty-three years. Always of an inquiring mind, he became attached to the Academy of Sciences in his native city, devoted himself to the study of chemistrybeing assisted by Baumeand in 1776 began to lecture on that subject. He also established on scientific principles a saltpetre factory which was conducted by Courtois, the father of the discoverer of iodine. He became acquainted with the men of science in Paris, and in 1780 he was induced by Panckoucke, the bookseller, to undertake the chemical section of the famous “Encyclopedic Methodique”. Seven years later he joined Lavoisier, Berthollet and Fourcroy in the publication of the “Methode de Nomenclature Chimique”, which revolutionized chemical nomenclature.
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Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau (1737–1816). Nature 139, 18–19 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/139018b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/139018b0